PeptiDream, the Japanese biopharma with a penchant for deal-making, has a new bargaining chip in its hand in the red-hot obesity space. The firm’s oral macrocyclic peptides preserved lean muscle mass in mice given the weight-loss drug semaglutide.
The company is now looking for a path to bring the peptides into the clinic, including potential licensing or partnership deals, according to a Dec. 12 release.
PeptiDream’s peptides are inhibitors of myostatin, a protein that tamps down muscle growth in order to regulate it. Interfering with myostatin’s activity frees the muscles from this control so they can expand and strengthen.
The peptides were first tested in mouse models of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, according to the release, and improved grip strength in treated mice. That success led PeptiDream to pair the oral drug with semaglutide in mice; rodents given the combo showed sustained weight loss compared to controls while keeping muscle intact, the company said.
“Our myostatin inhibitors showed significant lean body mass preservation, with both daily and weekly oral administration, effectively counteracting the lean mass loss associated with semaglutide-induced weight loss,” PeptiDream president and CEO Patrick Reid, Ph.D., said in the release. “These findings provide compelling evidence of the first-in-class potential of our oral peptide myostatin inhibitors to be used in combination with other weight loss agents.”
GLP-1 drugs are well-known to reduce muscle mass as well as body fat, making the preservation of muscle a potentially lucrative area for drug development.
Terns Pharmaceuticals unveiled preclinical data over the summer showing that its shelved metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis drug preserved both muscle mass and appetite in mice given semaglutide.
PeptiDream has a strong track record of partnership with pharma giants. The Japanese biotech penned an expanded radiopharma deal with Novartis worth up to $2.71 billion in April and has also inked massive deals in the recent past with Alynylam, Takeda, Lilly and Merck.