The drug is based on research carried out by Giovanni Traveo, gastroenterologist and mechanical engineer, and Robert Langer, chemical engineer who launched more than two dozen biotechnology companies.
The two discovered the mechanism when they worked on a means of developing liquid drug formulations that could be given to children. They quickly realized that they could make this temporary synthetic coating more or less permeable, to improve absorption or slow down. This last capacity was attractive as a treatment of obesity.
“This material is something that you take as a capsule or liquid, but the next day, it disappeared because of the natural renewal of our mucous surface in the gastrointestinal tract,” explains Traverso. He and Langer co -founded Synis with Dhanda in 2022. He compared this coating that mussels and other crustaceans use to stick to the rocks or at the bottom of the ocean.
In the results, Syniss has announced, the drug was delivered in liquid form via a tube directly to the small intestine so that the researchers can verify that the polymer coating has formed as planned. A tablet form has already been tested in pigs and dogs, and this is what Synis plans to test in future human studies.
In rats, the drug has produced a weekly weight loss of 1% coherent over a six -week study period while preserving 100% of lean muscle mass.
In a pilot study of the human first of nine participants, the drug was sure without undesirable effects. Fat samples taken from the intestine were used to confirm that the coating has formed and was also eliminated from the body within 24 hours. The study was not designed to assess weight loss, but blood tests showed that after the medication, glucose levels and “hunger” hormone, ghrelin was lower while leptin levels, a regular hormonal in appetite were higher.
“When the nutrients are redirected later in the intestine, you activate ways that lead to satiety, energy expenditure and healthy and durable overall weight loss,” explains Dhanda.
The results of Syniss organic in animals also refer to the weight loss potential of the drug without compromising muscle mass, one of the concerns about current GLP-1 drugs. Although weight loss in general is associated with many health benefits, there is growth evidence That the type of drastic weight loss that GLP-1 induces can also lead to a loss of lean muscle mass.
Louis Aronne, specialist in obesity medicine and professor of metabolic research at the Weill-Cornell Medical College, says that if GLP-1 are very popular, they may not suit everyone. He predicts that in the not so distant future, there will be many drugs for obesity and treatment will be more personalized. “I think that the compound of Syniss is perfectly registered as a treatment that could be used from the start. This is a kind of thing that you could use as a first line medication, ”he says. ARONON is clinical advisor to the company.
Vladimir Kushnir, professor of medicine and director of bariatric endoscopy at the University of Washington in St. Louis, who is not involved with Synis, says that the first pilot data is encouraging, but it is difficult to draw conclusions from such a small study. It expects the drug to make people more full, but could also have some of the same side effects as gastric bridging. “My anticipation is that it will have digestive side effects such as bloating and abdominal cramps, as well as potentially diarrhea and nausea once it has entered a larger study,” he said.
It is early for this new technique, but if it is effective, it could one day be an alternative or complementary medicine to GLP-1 drugs.
Update of 4-17-2025 5:30 pm BST: Statistics of the decrease in bariatric surgery rates after GLP-1 prescriptions increasing in 2022 and 2023 was corrected to 8.7%.
