October 26, 2023
Biolexis Therapeutics, a clinical-stage AI-enabled drug discovery company, today announced the launch of Metabolexis, a new pipeline company developing three targeted oral small molecules for the treatment of Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes, with the potential to improve human Longevity.
The World Health Organization estimates 650 million obese and 537 million Type 2 Diabetic patients worldwide. The World Obesity Federation predicts that 51% of the world — more than 4 billion people — will be obese or overweight within the next 12 years. These rates are alarming, especially among youth and adolescents. In the United States alone, more than 100 million people (about four in 10) are obese, and 37 million are diabetic (about 1 in 10), 90-95% of whom are Type 2, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While recently approved drugs for treating Type 2 diabetes have also been found effective for weight loss, significant toxicity and drug administration complications remain.
“We believe that our novel small molecule therapeutics delivered orally can address some of the toxicity and delivery complications associated with today’s treatments,” said Dr. David J. Bearss, CEO and co-founder of Biolexis Therapeutics. “With the launch of Metabolexis, we have an opportunity to address this immense need by providing clinically effective, easily administered, and economically viable treatments that improve the lives of these patients.”
The Metabolexis pipeline includes isoform-specific activators of AMPK, aGLP-1/GLP-1R agonists, and mTORC1 inhibitors with plans to file Investigational New Drug Applications (INDs) for all three agents by the end of Q4 2024 and to initiate First-In-Human Phase I safety clinical trials in Q1 2025. Utilizing Biolexis’ MolecuLern™ process, the company has identified lead candidates currently in pre-clinical development.
MolecuLern is an AI-enabled drug discovery process that leverages empirical/wet lab data-driven models trained on Biolexis’ curated and proprietary library, including physical and virtual synthesis-ready fragments and NCEs, to identify lead molecules targeting any class of protein.
This innovative and expedited process results in candidates with drug-like characteristics, reducing development costs, increasing the potential for clinical trial effectiveness, and significantly accelerating the drug discovery time frame.
“Obesity-related conditions, including Type-2 Diabetes, Cardiometabolic, Stroke, and age-related diseases, continue to be crucial issues in our communities,” said Dr. Hariprasad Vankayalapati, CSO and co-founder of Biolexis Therapeutics. “As we continue to research, develop, and implement innovative methods to address critical unmet medical needs, we believe our work in activating AMPK, agonizing GLP-1, and inhibiting mTORC1 targets will expand treatment options for patients with these and other metabolic disorders.”
Metabolexis will focus on targeting these important conditions with the goal to eliminate the presence of the major chronic conditions associated with aging. Aging is linked to the gradual deterioration in biological functions occurring in most tissues. Aging in specific tissues leads to a variety of disorders, including neurodegeneration, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. The work at Metabolexis will focus on targeting known regulators and pathways that control the aging process and will develop drugs intended to improve the health of the aging population.
For more information, please visit www.biolexistx.com.
About Biolexis
Biolexis Therapeutics is a privately held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing small molecules targeting cancers, immune-mediated, neurodegenerative, auto-immune, metabolic, and inflammatory diseases. Biolexis rapidly discovers and develops novel clinical candidates with unprecedented speed and accuracy through their proprietary MolecuLern AI-enabled drug discovery process.