A New Zealand research team is developing a potentially new type of obesity treatment designed to help people lose fat without suppressing appetite or sacrificing valuable muscle mass.
Researchers at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, have received almost $1.2 million from the Health Research Council to advance the experimental treatment over the next three years.
The approach is fundamentally different from high-profile weight-loss medicines such as Wegovy and Mounjaro.
Instead of primarily reducing appetite and food intake, the Auckland researchers are targeting a pathway inside cells involved in how the body stores fat.
Professor of Cell Signalling Peter Shepherd says the team has developed a drug targeting that pathway, with preclinical results suggesting weight loss could be at least comparable to what would be expected with Wegovy.
But the research remains at the preclinical stage, meaning the treatment has not yet been proven safe or effective for weight loss in people.
KEEP THE MUSCLE, TARGET THE FAT
One of the most significant goals of the research is preserving muscle during weight loss.
Investigator Dr Chris Hedges says loss of muscle mass can be a problem associated with existing weight-loss treatments.
That is particularly important for older people, where reduced muscle can contribute to frailty, increase the risk of falls and fractures and make it more difficult to regain strength.
The Auckland team believes its approach could potentially overcome some of those problems by targeting fat-storage processes instead.
Researchers will compare the experimental drug with GLP-1 weight-loss medicines to assess its effectiveness and possible advantages.
WEIGHT LOSS WITHOUT KILLING THE APPETITE
There is another intriguing difference.
Preclinical studies indicate the experimental treatment does not reduce appetite or food intake.
That means the drug is being investigated as a way of changing how the body handles fat rather than simply making people want to eat less.
And while Wegovy is typically delivered by injection, the Auckland treatment is being developed as an oral pill.
Professor Rinki Murphy, an endocrinologist and co-investigator, says obesity is driven by multiple biological pathways.
That means future treatments could potentially combine medicines working in different ways to produce greater weight loss while also preserving muscle and improving longer-term health outcomes.
$1.2 MILLION PUSH TOWARDS HUMAN TRIALS
The Health Research Council has awarded the researchers $1.198 million over three years to advance the work.
The laboratory phase has now been completed and researchers are moving into preclinical development as they work towards eventual human clinical trials.
That next stage will be crucial.
Promising results before human trials do not guarantee a medicine will ultimately prove safe, effective or receive regulatory approval.
But if the approach successfully makes the transition into human trials, it could add another potential weapon to a rapidly expanding field of obesity treatment.
A BILLION-DOLLAR OPPORTUNITY FOR AOTEAROA?
There could also be a significant economic prize.
The researchers estimate the global weight-loss drug market is currently worth around US$50 billion annually.
Shepherd and his colleagues are now seeking investors for a biotechnology company aimed at taking the technology towards commercialisation.
Even capturing a small share of that international market could represent a substantial economic opportunity for New Zealand.
For now, however, the science comes first.
The challenge is to establish whether a treatment showing promise in preclinical research can eventually deliver the same benefits safely in humans.
If it can, Aotearoa researchers may have developed a very different approach to one of the world’s fastest-growing areas of medicine — targeting the storage of fat while trying to protect the muscle people need to remain healthy.
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