Prolor: Positive Obesity/Diabetes Study
PROLOR Biotech, Inc. (NYSE Amex: PBTH) reported positive preclinical results from an animal study of its long-acting obesity/Type II diabetes drug candidate MOD-6030. The study was designed to measure the potential therapeutic effect of MOD-6030 injected once weekly as measured by weight loss, reduction in food intake, glycemic control and cholesterol levels.
In the study, MOD-6030 administered to diet-induced obese (DIO) mice once weekly over a 30-day period demonstrated significant efficacy in reducing weight, lowering blood glucose levels, increasing insulin sensitivity and reducing cholesterol levels as compared to a group that received placebo. Animals in the placebo group showed minimal changes in the study parameters, while the animals receiving MOD-6030 achieved on average a 28% reduction in weight, a 29% reduction in food intake, a 19% reduction in blood glucose levels and a 57% reduction in cholesterol levels. Body composition analysis showed that the weight loss resulted specifically from reductions in body fat.
MOD-6030 is a long-acting version of a native peptide that acts as a natural satiety signal to reduce food intake. The company will initiate the first human clinical trial of MOD-6030 in 2013.
MOD-6030, a GLP-1/Glucagon dual receptor agonist peptide, is a long-acting version of oxyntomodulin, a naturally occurring hormone that acts as a natural satiety signal to reduce food intake and increase energy expenditure following food ingestion. Previous third-party studies in humans showed that the native oxyntomodulin can reduce appetite and food intake, leading to significant weight loss without apparent side effects. However, as a result of its very short half-life, oxyntomodulin has to be administered via three daily injections. PROLOR developed MOD-6030, its longer-acting version, by combining the naturally occurring hormone with the company’s proprietary Reversible PEGylation technology designed to increase the half-life of therapeutic peptides and small molecules.