Gene PreDiT has been focused on the discovery and development of target therapies for obesity.
Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally. The worldwide prevalence of obesity is continuously growing. In 2014, more than 1.9 billion adults were overweight. Of these over 600 million were obese.
Despite the recent FDA and EMA approvals, a clear unmet need for safe therapies that can induce effective long-term weight loss still remains. A drug that is able to fit this demand has a clear potential to reach a blockbuster level, at the same time helping millions of people worldwide.
There are many factors that can influence the development of obesity: social, psychological, environmental and genetic factors. Gene PreDiT’s approach relies on the fact that Obesity cannot be targeted as one disease, but instead as a combination of genetic variants that predisposes individuals to become obese.
Making use of the strategy that combines the usage of Drosophila melanogaster as a model system and human patients that underwent bariatric surgery, Gene PreDiT identified a panel of novel genes relevant for morbid obesity. For the most interesting biomarker (GP0044), Gene PreDiT identified a potential targeted treatment, as a result of a drug reprofiling-based screening in flies. The compound (GPP846) is able to modulate lipid accumulation in flies. It is also suitable for chronic use and does not represent major side effects. Because it is a molecule currently on the market, Gene PreDiT has already started a Phase IIa Clinical Trial. Along with the drug development, Gene PreDiT is also developing a genetic test to identify the patients that will mostly benefit from our new targeted therapy for obesity.
