9th May 2024

Dia Beta Labs are delighted to announce the securing of further grant funding from the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK through the Northern Ireland Life & Health Sciences Launchpad! This £99K award facilitates performance of a confirmatory study for our therapeutic lead, DBL002, in female subjects.

This innovative project seeks to address gender imbalance in research at the preclinical level, which tends to prioritise the use of single-sex studies. DBL recognise the inherent flaw in this kind of archaic study design and through this project can confirm the exciting weight loss potential of DBL002 is retained in females. As such, DBL002 is demonstrated to evoke weight loss of up to 30% in male, obese rodents when combined with standard of care weight-loss therapeutics, termed GLP-1 analogues. Moreover, our data indicates that DBL002 imparts a higher quality of weight loss, sparing muscle whilst preferentially targeting fat.

GLP-1 therapies, such as Ozempic®, have changed the prescribing landscape in weight-management, becoming household names in the process. However, these therapies are not without their flaws. Firstly, they are subject to high discontinuation rates, owing to common incidences of gastrointestinal side-effects like nausea and vomiting. Indeed, it has been evidenced that 70.1% of patients on GLP-1 therapeutics discontinued within 24-months1. Additionally, there are growing concerns over the degree of muscle wastage caused by GLP-1s2, a particular concern when utilised in frail or elderly patients.

Through combination, allowing significant dosage reduction of the GLP-1 therapy, DBL002 addresses the concerns around gastrointestinal discomfort. Further, our improved quality of weight loss, alone or in combination with GLP-1s, solves GLP-1-mediated muscle loss.

It has recently been demonstrated that the incidence of gastrointestinal side effects for GLP-1 therapeutics may be more common in females than in males3, thus we now seek to address whether similar gender disparity exists for DBL002. Additionally, we seek to confirm that the exciting combination potential demonstrated with GLP-1 therapeutics in male rodents is maintained in females.

Dia Beta Labs’ CEO, Dr. Ryan Lafferty had this to say of the award: “We are delighted to have received this funding from Innovate UK to facilitate this crucial confirmatory study in females for DBL002. This project not only improves the translatability of our research but allows us to implement frameworks into our development pathways which will incorporate gender-balance at earliest stages. The Grant award also encourages collaboration and expansion of the biotech ecosystem within Northern Ireland as a whole, which DBL are also passionate in supporting.

The project will run for 12-months between April 2024 and March 2025.

Stay tuned to our website and social channels for more updates!

References:

  1. Weiss T, Carr RD, Pal S, Yang L, Sawhney B, Boggs R, Rajpathak S, Iglay K. Real-World Adherence and Discontinuation of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients in the United States. Patient Prefer Adherence. 2020 Nov 27;14:2337-2345. doi: 10.2147/PPA.S277676. PMID: 33273810; PMCID: PMC7708309.
  2. https://peterattiamd.com/the-downside-of-glp-1-receptor-agonists/
  3. Rentzeperi E, Pegiou S, Koufakis T, Grammatiki M, Kotsa K. Sex Differences in Response to Treatment with Glucagon-like Peptide 1 Receptor Agonists: Opportunities for a Tailored Approach to Diabetes and Obesity Care. J Pers Med. 2022 Mar 13;12(3):454. doi: 10.3390/jpm12030454. PMID: 35330453; PMCID: PMC8950819.

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