A well-known collaborator with Eli Lilly – BioAge Labs is focusing on developing an anti-obesity drug for the elderly "by targeting the biology of human ageing", the biopharmaceutical start-up said. The company says it has started phase 2 clinical trials of azelaprag in combination with tizerpertide – the active ingredient in Eli Lilly's Zepbound.
BioAge will be using azelaprag – an apelin receptor agonist that mimics the activity of a peptide released during exercise, along with semaglutide – the drug behind Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic, which are hugely popular among all age groups.
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According to experts, apart from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, many other pharma companies have been tirelessly working to come out with new formulas for anti-obesity drugs due to surging demand for weight loss medications.
How does azelaprag work?
According to the company, Azelaprag copies the activity of the exerkine apelin, helps with weight loss, and improves body composition. A few preclinical studies have also suggested that azelaprag can double the weight loss achieved with incretin drugs.
Azelaprag is well tolerated and has a safety profile that is in line with prior data. In a phase 1b clinical trial, the drug also prevented muscle atrophy and maintained muscle protein synthesis in healthy volunteers aged 65 years or older who were placed on 10 days of bed rest.
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Muscle atrophy or loss of muscle mass and strength is a universal feature of human ageing that increases the risk of multiple morbidities, shortens lifespan, and diminishes the quality of life. Hospitalization and periods of forced inactivity greatly accelerate this loss in older people.
“The data from this Phase 1b study provide clinical validation of BioAge’s AI-driven discovery platform and demonstrate the power of our human-first approach to identify medically relevant drug targets,” said Dr. Kristen Fortney, CEO and co-founder of BioAge in a news release. “Our analysis of BioAge’s human aging cohorts revealed that the apelin pathway is a strong predictor of healthy longevity and muscle function, and now this has translated directly into our clinical finding that apelin pathway activation with BGE-105 improves muscle physiology in older adults. Today’s announcement is a milestone in BioAge’s mission to create a pipeline of drugs that treat disease and extend healthy lifespan by targeting the mechanisms of ageing.”
BioAge’s analysis of proprietary human biobanks showed that apelin pathway activity, which declines with age, is positively associated with longevity, mobility, and cognitive function.
Apelin, the natural ligand of APJ, is secreted by skeletal muscle in response to exercise and regulates multiple aspects of muscle metabolism, growth, and repair. BGE-105 binds APJ and activates apelin signaling.