Human trials soon for a ‘different’ Indiana-made anti-obesity drug
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The recent tidal wave of GLP-1 weight loss drugs may seem the cure for the nation’s obesity epidemic, but the medications are not the magic bullet, say two Eli Lilly and Co. veterans who played major roles in bringing the drugmaker’s type 2 diabetes and weight loss drugs to market.
They’re now leading Indianapolis-based startup Adipo Therapeutics to attack obesity from a different angle—because many theorize that patients will eventually take multiple drugs, each promoting weight loss in a different way. With new study results in hand and human trials up next, Adipo believes it will provide a new weapon for the war on obesity.
The current weight loss juggernauts on the market, including Lilly’s Zepbound, are based on calorie restriction. But losing weight by reducing calories alone causes the body’s resting metabolic rate to slow and the loss of muscle mass. Adipo says its treatment uses a starkly different approach by focusing on increasing energy expenditure.
Adipo says its drug works by converting energy-storing “bad” white fat into “good” energy-burning brown fat. This conversion increases energy expenditure—essentially increasing calorie burn—and no drug on the market today uses that approach.
“[Our drug] increases your resting metabolism,” says Adipo CEO Karen Wurster, “so it gets that resting metabolism back up by burning calories.”
Based at the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, the startup now has its first human evidence to support the approach. More than a dozen Hoosiers undergoing bariatric surgery volunteered their fat samples, which are typically discarded, to be used for Adipo’s first study on human tissue. Adipo treated the human fat samples in the lab with its drug and showed “very good” results.
“In some ways, it’s viewed as a breakthrough to be able to show this ability to convert human fat,” says Wurster.
Wurster says Adipo is an example of how Hoosier expertise from big pharma and universities provide fertile ground for startups.
The startup was invited to present its data at the world’s largest medical conference for diabetes this summer. Adipo says the recognition underscores the fact that the market is still hungry for other approaches in addition to GLP-1 drugs. Adipo Chief Operations Officer Keith Johns says, while GLP-1 drugs can offer a profound amount of weight loss, “is it healthy weight loss?”
“I think the important thing we’re going to learn over time with obesity is not just the amount of weight you lose, but the helpfulness,” says Johns. “When you lose weight on a GLP-1, you’re losing fat, but you’re also losing lean muscle. While these are highly efficacious products, there’s room in the marketplace for products that help you not only lose weight, but lose the right kind of weight, meaning fat versus muscle.”
In fact, Lilly is partnering with California-based BioAge Labs to test its muscle regeneration drug when used in combination with Lilly’s Mounjaro. Adipo believes its medication would surmount that challenge; preclinical data shows its drug preserves lean muscle and could potentially increase lean muscle.
Patients taking GLP-1 medications also struggle to maintain weight loss; most regain some or all of the weight when they stop taking the drug. Side effects are another challenge; around 15% of patients don’t tolerate GLP-1 drugs due to gastrointestinal side effects, but Johns says Adipo’s drug shows a very low risk of side effects.
“There’s room for new entrance in the [anti-obesity drugs] market, particularly new entrance working on energy expenditure,” said Johns. “I think the future of obesity care is going to be potentially where you’re on a few medicines: a medicine to control your appetite, a medicine to increase your energy expenditure and a medicine to maintain or improve your lean muscle body composition.”
Johns says Lilly and IBRI are helping Indiana’s bioscience ecosystem compete on a global level.
Johns and Wurster worked side-by-side at Lilly helping develop and launch the drugs that changed the face of type 2 diabetes treatment and now obesity. Such deep knowledge of GLP-1 drugs helped the duo identify what unmet needs would remain in the market and understand what drugs would be most complementary to GLP-1 medicines when they stormed the marketplace.
“The potential of what [Adipo’s drug] has to offer is what inspires me,” says Johns. “It’s based on some cool and innovative science, has the potential to bring new benefits to patients in this category and be a real game-changer.”