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Seeking Novel Oral or Injectable Therapeutics to Treat Obesity

Background

A world-leading health company is seeking novel therapeutics for obesity, with safety and efficacy data, preferably in canine models. Approaches should help manage obesity and reduce body condition score, with greater efficacy than diet and/or exercise alone. Our client aims to bring a novel treatment to market within 3-5 years.

Approaches should allow for oral or injectable delivery, ideally with daily (oral) or monthly (injectable) dosing. Our client is seeking therapeutics with strong safety profile, with minimal side-effects (i.e. no gastrointestinal distress, hypoglycemia or injection site reactions). Ideal efficacy data would demonstrate at least 10% loss of body weight within 3 months.

What we're looking for

We are looking for modeling solutions with strong predictive accuracy to identify new ingredients for cosmetic applications and/or laundry detergents. We are particularly interested in models that can predict interactions of compounds with hair, skin, or textile substrates and estimate core functionalities, such as film formation on hair or color retention on textiles. We are also open to models capable of predicting interactions within complex formulations, such as viscosity changes and the complexation of polymers and surfactants.

Approaches of Interest:

  • Any therapeutic targets and mechanisms of action relevant to obesity are of interest, including but not limited to GLP-1,
    GIP, leptin and amylin
  • All modalities are of interest, however small molecule, peptide and antibody approaches are preferred
  • Approaches that target common obesity comorbidities via pathways shared with obesity are also of interest (e.g. type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular)

Out of Scope:

  • Dietary, behavioral or exercise interventions
  • Natural products, nutraceuticals or approaches targeting the microbiome e.g. probiotics
  • Any opportunities in development for over-the-counter use

Developmental Stages of Interest:

  • Opportunities should have in vivo validation, preferably canine data
  • Earlier stage opportunities with novel mechanisms of action and/or pathways to target obesity may also be considered

Submission Information
Submission of one-page, 200–300-word briefs is encouraged, along with any optional supplementary information e.g. relevant publications. In submitting to this campaign, you confirm that your submission contains only non-confidential information.

Opportunity for Collaboration
Our client is open to a range of collaboration opportunities, with the most appropriate outcome being decided on a case-by-case basis. Licensing of assets with a timeline to bring to market within 3-5 years is preferred

Email Cameron Sargent, CTTC Licensing Officer, at cameron.sargent@vanderbilt.edu for more information.