The biotech company, Pila Pharma, is raising 20 million Swedish kronor in an almost fully covered capital raise, which includes a stock option for future use.
Pila Pharma
The goal is to expand the clinical pipeline with a separate dedicated obesity track and thereby explore more applications for the company's oral TRPV1 inhibitor for obesity and type 2 diabetes, a potential first-in-class candidate.
Pila Pharma, founded by Danish researcher Dorte X. Gram and listed on the Nasdaq First North exchange in Stockholm, is ready with an almost fully subscribed capital increase of 20 million Swedish kronor. The funding round includes stock options that can secure the company more capital within 9 months. Dorte X. Gram is a former researcher at Novo Nordisk and was the first researcher to screen and identify the molecule that later became semaglutide - today the active ingredient in the products marketed as Ozempic and Wegovy.
The funds from the capital increase will strengthen the development of the company's oral TRPV1 inhibitor, XEN-D0501 – a candidate that the company believes has potential for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes. More specifically, the company will now establish a track dedicated to investigating the effect in obesity without other diseases. The molecule, which is in a completely different drug class than many other molecules in development for obesity, is formulated as a stable tablet with an eye on a huge global scalability potential. It has previously shown a favourable safety profile and efficacy in type-2 diabetes studies, including effects like improved insulin secretion and cardioprotective properties.
"We have a clear goal now to create a data package with weight loss that can pave the way for a partnership. We are experiencing great interest from major pharmaceutical companies about the differentiated profile that our compound has, but they will have keen interest in partnerships or acquisition if we can present concrete weight loss data.
"Therefore, the new capital is planned to immediately be used to investigate the weight loss effect in rats followed by a study in overweight people without diabetes. Overall, the new capital strengthens our development and capital readiness, and the new studies will give us more nuanced and in-depth knowledge about the possible applications of XEN-D0501" said CEO Gustav H. Gram.
Pure focus on obesity
The capital increase will be used to initiate new studies in obesity without other diseases. In parallel, the company will continue preparations for the upcoming phase 2a study (PP-CT03) in obese people with diabetes, where higher doses will investigate the drug's efficacy and safety.
"With the new capital, we are launching a completely new, separate and dedicated obesity track that can potentially provide truly meaningful data. We believe that there is a unique opportunity now to obtain a data package that will position Pila Pharma's TRPV1 inhibitor strongly and highly differentiated among new drugs in development for the obesity market. It is a market that is expected to grow rapidly and fragment going forward with a focus on tablet solutions and approaches other than GLP-1, and we are already experiencing great interest" said founder and head of research Dorte X. Gram.
During her time at Novo Nordisk, she identified that inhibiting the activity of the TRPV1 receptor could be a possible new mechanism for treating metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity.
Clinical studies with a new approach
Pila Pharma is driving the development of a new, oral drug, XEN-D0501, for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and now also obesity. The company's previous studies point to a good safety profile as well as an effect on insulin secretion and possible cardiovascular benefits in addition to signs of improving long-term blood sugar regulation.
If the upcoming activities confirm an effect on weight loss, XEN-D0501 will be the first molecule within the TRPV1 drug class to demonstrate effect on body weight regulation.
"f we succeed in showing an effect on obesity, it will not only be a breakthrough for us, but also for the entire industry in the form of a new drug class with the potential to supplement or even challenge existing treatments. At the same time, it will place us in a strong position in a global market that is growing rapidly and a market that is increasingly looking for tablet-based solutions with different side effect profiles. We therefore believe, and with great support from our shareholders, that it is a logical and attractive move to investigate our candidate in pure obesity studies to understand the potential as best as possible and make us attractive for partnerships or acquisition" said Gustav H. Gram.
The main asset in Pila Pharma is the TRPV1 inhibitor called XEN-D0501 with a potentially unique anti-inflammatory mechanism that differs significantly from today's GLP-1 treatments. It can therefore potentially offer a different side effect profile and as a small molecule it can ensure easier scaling and thus access to effective obesity treatment on a global scale.