Researchers at the University of Leipzig and ETH Zurich have used single-cell sequencing to identify differences between fat tissue of obese individuals who are metabolically unhealthy, and those who were in good metabolic health. The findings, which were published online Dec. 17, 2024, in Cell Metabolism, identify measurements that can be used to decouple obesity from metabolic disease.
The Danish Medicines Agency is to ask the EMA’s pharmacovigilance committee to investigate a potential increased risk of an acute eye condition in diabetic patients being treated with the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist Ozempic (semaglutide).
Released from a clinical hold by the U.S. FDA in late September, Biomea Fusion Inc.’s menin inhibitor, icovamenib, has charged ahead to produce positive top-line data from a phase II study in type 2 diabetes (T2D). The data, however, didn’t stop the stock from dropping to near its lowest level of the past 12 months.
Caliway Biopharmaceuticals’ lipolysis candidate, CBL-514, met all the primary and secondary efficacy endpoints in a phase IIb study for subcutaneous fat reduction, paving the way for the company to begin a global pivotal phase III study in 2025.
Verge Genomics (Verge Analytics Inc.) has nominated a second development candidate, VRG-201, targeting long-term weight management and metabolic homeostasis. VRG-201 is an oral, first-in-class small-molecule therapy that targets the underlying metabolic pathways leading to abnormal weight gain and the development or worsening of obesity.
While Spruce Biosciences Inc.’s tildacerfont missed its phase II primary endpoint in classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) last March, the U.S. FDA approved Crenessity (crinecerfont) from Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. for treating pediatric and adult CAH patients. The nod could lead the drug to become a blockbuster, analysts said.
The EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use recommended 17 drugs for approval at its December meeting, bringing the total for 2024 to 114. That is up from the 77 drugs recommended for approval in 2023, of which 39 were novel.
Investigators at the Helmholtz Institute have shown that inceptor, an inhibitor of the insulin signaling pathway, acted by binding insulin and targeting it for degradation. “Insulin was discovered 100 years ago, and the insulin receptor was discovered 50 years ago,” Heiko Lickert told BioWorld. “Now we have a new insulin receptor, which degrades insulin.” Lickert is the senior author of the paper reporting the new insights into how inceptor works, which were published online in Nature Metabolism.
Kriya Therapeutics Inc. and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona have published preclinical data for KRIYA-497, a one-time intramuscular gene therapy being developed for the treatment of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).
Peptidream Inc. has released promising results from preclinical testing of its oral myostatin inhibitors, administered in combination with semaglutide, in a mouse model of obesity.
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