The UK-based biotech company NodThera Ltd has started dosing patients in a trial of a small molecule drug for obesity that targets a protein in an inflammasome complex in the brain. The Phase 2 study will enrol 160 patients who are obese and may or may not also have type 2 diabetes. The trial will be carried out over 24 weeks with headline data expected in the second quarter of 2026. Although it is small, the trial is being positioned to test a relatively new concept: whether it is possible to change the course of obesity by correcting underlying metabolic dysfunction.
In an interview on 6 June, Alan Watt, chief scientific officer of NodThera, said the company is positioning itself to treat chronic, low-grade inflammation that can arise as people age or follow unhealthy life styles. This is to be distinguished from inflammation that arises from an infection or injury. Obesity is one result of low-grade inflammation. Certain neurodegenerative diseases are another, he commented.
NodThera has already tested its small molecule drug, NT-0796 in a Phase 1b/2a Parkinson’s disease study where it showed evidence of reducing neuroinflammatory and inflammatory biomarkers in elderly patients. That was in 2024. Now the company is shifting its priorities to put more resources into obesity against a background of rising disease prevalence and the demand for new treatments. “Parkinson’s is still a priority, but obesity is coming first,” the executive commented.
In May, NodThera raised $50 million from investors to expand its clinical studies in obesity which, in addition to the recently initiated Phase 2 for NT-0796, will feature a combination study of NT-0796 and Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide. This study is expected to start in the early autumn. Semaglutide is a glucagon-like peptide-1 drug (GLP-1) which has been approved for treating obesity under the name, Wegovy, along with another GLP-1 from Novo, Saxenda (liraglutide). A more recent market entrant is Zepbound (tirzepatide), which targets GLP-1 and another hormone, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP). Wegovy has achieved weight loss of as much as 16% but also has shortcomings, one of which is the loss of lean body mass. The upcoming NodThera combination trial will attempt to find out whether it’s possible to improve the weight loss profile. “We will be asking the question: can we ameliorate some of the side effects of the GLP-1s,” Dr Watt said.
NodThera was launched in 2016 by Epidarex Capital, a private equity firm, on the basis of research conducted by Selvita SA, a service company in Poland. Its first venture round in 2018 was co-led by Sofinnova Partners and 5AM Ventures.
The science concept is to develop small molecule inhibitors of the NLRP2 inflammasome, one of several protein complexes that are part of the innate immune system which trigger the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines to fight disease. Over-activity of the NLRP2 inflammasome is implicated in a wide range of diseases.
“The diseases we have been interested in from the onset of the company are diseases that have a commonality and that commonality is chronic, low-grade inflammation. So what we see is that cardiovascular disease, metabolic disease, obesity, arthritis and neurodegeneration, they all have a common aetiology,” the executive said.
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