Versanis Bio (“Versanis”), a clinical-stage company advancing novel therapeutics for cardiometabolic diseases, will share analysis of Phase 2 data from prior studies of lead asset bimagrumab at ENDO 2022, being held virtually and in Atlanta June 11-14, 2022.
Also Read: Mnemo Therapeutics Launches RHU Project in Collaboration with Leading European Research Partners
Dr. Lloyd Klickstein, Chief Scientific Officer of Versanis, will present the data during ENDO’s Rapid Fire Poster session on Monday, June 13, from 12:30 until 1:30 p.m. EDT in Poster Pod 3, ENDOExpo Hall. The presentation is entitled “The Dramatic Fat Mass Loss Caused by Bimagrumab is Similar in Diabetic and Non-diabetic Patients.” The results of the analysis underscore bimagrumab’s robust activity in spurring fat loss in people with and without diabetes, while concomitantly increasing lean mass.
Bimagrumab is a first-in-class activin type II receptor monoclonal antibody previously evaluated in various muscle wasting indications based on its effects on muscle anabolism. This pooled analysis is based on five previously completed Phase 2 studies with data from a total of 569 non-diabetic patients, 41% of whom were overweight or obese.
After only 24 weeks of intravenous treatment with bimagrumab, the top dose group lost 14.6% of total body fat mass, while the placebo group showed a 2.4% increase in fat mass. This change in fat mass is similar to what was observed in a prospective study of 75 overweight and obese type 2 diabetic patients, where at week 24 fat mass loss was 16.5% in the bimagrumab group compared to a 0.8% increase in the placebo group. In this study, by week 48 fat mass in the bimagrumab group had decreased by 20.5% while lean mass increased by 3.6%, with no change in either parameter in the placebo group.
“This analysis further underscores the potential of bimagrumab to transform the lives of patients living with obesity by enabling substantial fat loss with the added unique feature of increasing muscle mass, resulting in significantly improved body composition,” Klickstein said. “Furthermore, unlike other existing obesity treatments, bimagrumab demonstrates similar activity in both diabetic and non-diabetic patient populations.”
Bimagrumab will enter a Phase 2b study later this year in non-diabetic patients with obesity to evaluate its safety and efficacy both as a monotherapy and when co-administered with an incretin agonist therapy.
“While incretin therapies have demonstrated their effectiveness in driving weight loss, this comes at the expense of significant lean mass loss,” Klickstein said. “We believe that co-administering bimagrumab may prevent this undesirable effect while amplifying overall fat loss.”