PRE-CONFERENCE FOCUS DAY
Novel Targets Focus Day | Tuesday, December 2
8:45 am Morning Refreshments & Check In
Engineering Precision Therapies Beyond GLP-1 to Sustain Weight Loss & Redefine Obesity Care
9:30 am Selective Androgen Receptor Modulation as a Mechanism for HighQuality Weight Loss and Muscle Preservation in Obesity
Synopsis
- Selective androgen receptor modulation acts as a novel mechanism to preserve lean muscle mass during weight loss, leading to improved metabolic health and a healthier body composition
- By targeting the androgen receptor, this approach allows for preferential fat loss, ultimately preventing the muscle wasting often seen with traditional diets and weight loss drugs
- This strategy of protecting muscle mass during caloric restriction offers a unique advantage, resulting in higher quality weight loss and better long-term health outcomes
10:00 am Breakthrough Dual Gene Therapy: Reprogramming Fat to Fight Obesity – Building Muscle, Burning Fat, and Increasing Energy Expenditure
Synopsis
- Dual gene therapy builds lean muscle mass through cross-talk from adipose to muscle by going beyond appetite suppression
- Rapid fat-selective weight loss using precision therapy reprogramming white fat to metabolically active beige fat
- Decoupling cardiometabolic benefits from BMI – direct metabolic protection independent of weight loss
10:30 am Morning Break & Networking
11:00 am Developing Controlled Metabolic Accelerators (CMAs) as a New Class of Investigational Medicines to Combat Obesity & Chronic Metabolic Diseases
Synopsis
- Developing Controlled Metabolic Accelerators (CMAs) has the advantage of increasing metabolic rate without elevating heart rate, providing the benefit of a more tolerable and sustainable treatment for patients
- Targeting metabolic pathways directly allows for the preferential use of fat for fuel, resulting in the benefit of significant and selective fat reduction
- This novel mechanism of action allows for the treatment of both obesity and chronic metabolic diseases simultaneously, which provides the benefit of a holistic and comprehensive improvement in overall patient health
11:30 am Targeting SCD1 to Harness the Skin as an Endocrine Organ for Sustainable Weight Loss to Redefine Obesity Care
Synopsis
- Targeting SCD1 offers a novel mechanism to increase energy expenditure without elevating heart rate, which provides a well-tolerated and sustainable pathway for weight loss
- This unique approach to lipid metabolism provides the distinct advantage of preferential fat reduction while preserving lean muscle mass, resulting in significant improvements in body composition and metabolic health markers
- The treatment option provides an alternative for patients who are unresponsive to or intolerant of existing therapies, ultimately redefining the standard of care with new pathways for durable weight management
12:00 pm Unlocking New Metabolic Pathways to Achieve Sustained Weight Loss & Healthspan Extension
Synopsis
- Engineering multi-targeted therapeutics for comprehensive metabolic control to address the multifactorial nature of obesity for more effective, durable weight loss
- Leveraging AI and machine learning to identify novel drug targets and predict patient response to unlock personalized and predictive treatment strategies
- Pioneering small molecule modalities to enable oral delivery and broad accessibility, providing more convenient and patient-friendly alternatives to traditional injectable therapies
12:30 pm Lunch
1:30 pm Optimizing Activin Pathway Inhibition For Obesity – Regulation of Adipose, Liver, & Muscle Metabolism
Synopsis
- TGFb superfamily signaling through the Activin receptor type II (ACTRII) selectively regulates metabolism in multiple tissues, including adipose and muscle
- In both DIO mice and human patients, ACTRII inhibition reduces fat mass while supporting preservation or growth of muscle mass
- Oral small molecule inhibitors of ACTRII have distinct effects from biologic inhibitors, likely driven by PK and biodistribution, that offer unique clinical potential both as monotherapy and in combination with GLP-1 agonists
2:00 pm Role of Notch-Inhibiting Nanoparticles in the Browning and Activation of White Adipose Tissue to Boost Resting Metabolic Rate and Increase Energy Expenditure
Synopsis
- Browning of white adipose tissue can be accomplished with Notch-inhibition which induces mitochondrial biogenesis and mitochondrial activation
- Notch-inhibiting NP have demonstrated weight loss and a decrease in blood glucose and lipids in rodents
- Human ex vivo fat studies support potential for clinical translation of Notch-inhibition in adults with obesity
- Minimal off-target impact and associated side effects possible through local delivery of PLGA nanoparticles
2:30 pm Roundtable Discussion: Discovering Genetic Predispositions for Personalized Intervention Strategies to Identify High-Risk Individuals for Preventative & Targeted Treatments
Synopsis
- Utilizing polygenic risk scores for assessing individual susceptibility to predict obesity development for early intervention strategies
- Identifying monogenic obesity genes for precise diagnosis and treatment selection to enable targeted therapies for improved patient outcomes
- Applying pharmacogenomics for predicting drug response and side effect profiles to personalize medication choices for optimized therapeutic efficacy and safety