Experimental Obesity Pill imitates gastric bypass surgery

The drug is based on studies conducted at MIT by Giovanni Traverso, gastroenterologist and mechanical engineer, and Robert Langer, a chemical engineer who has launched more than two dozen biotechnology companies.

The two discovered the mechanism when they work in the way to develop fluid compositions that can be given to children. They soon realized that they could make this temporary synthetic coverage more or less permeable to improve absorption or slow it down. This last ability was attractive as a treatment for obesity.

“This material is something you would take as a capsule or liquid, but the next day it is not due to the natural turnover of our mucosa surface in the GI treatise,” Traverses says. He and Langer complicit Sindis with Dhana in 2022. He likens this cover to what the mussels and other mussels they use to stick to the rocks or the ocean floor.

In the announced results, the drug is delivered in liquid form by a test tube directly to the small intestine so that researchers can check that the polymer coating is formed as expected. A tablet form has already been tested in pigs and dogs and this is what Syntis plans to test in future human studies.

In rats, the drug produces a constant 1 % weekly weight loss for a six -week study, while maintaining 100 percent of the slender muscle mass.

In a pilot study, the first of nine participants is safe without adverse effects. The tissue samples taken from the intestine are used to confirm that the coating is formed and is also cleared from the body within 24 hours. The study is not intended to evaluate weight loss, but blood tests show that once the medicine has been given, glucose levels and “hungry hormone” ghrelin are lower, while leptin levels that regulate appetite hormone are higher.

“When nutrients are diverted to later in the gut, you activate the paths that lead to satiety, energy costs and overall healthy, sustainable weight loss,” says Dhana.

The findings of Syntis Bio in animals also hint at the potential of the medicine for weight loss without compromising muscle mass, one of the concerns of current GLP-1 drugs. While weight loss is generally associated with numerous health benefits, there is grow evidence That the type of drastic weight loss that GLP-1 causes can also lead to loss of slender muscle mass.

Louis Aaron, an obesity specialist and a professor of metabolic research at Weill-Cornell Medical College, says that while GLP-1 is wild, they may not be suitable for everyone. He predicts that there will be many obesity and treatment medicines in the not-so-distant future will be more personalized. “I think the Syntis compound fits perfectly as a treatment that can be used early. It’s something you could use as a first -line medicine,” he says. Arrone serves as a clinical advisor to the company.

Vladimir Kushir, Professor of Medicine and Director of Bariatric Endoscopy at Washington University in St. Louis, who is not involved in Syntis, says early pilot data is encouraging, but it is difficult to draw any conclusions from such a small study. He expects the medicine to make people feel more complete, but they could also have some of the same side effects as gastric bypass surgery. “My expectation is that this will have some digestive side effects such as bloating and abdominal cramps, as well as potentially some diarrhea and nausea after entering a more big study,” he says.

This is early days for this new technique, but if it turns out to be effective, it can be an alternative or added medicine to GLP-1 drugs.