IsomAb is a pre-clinical company developing isoform specific antibodies and it has identified, using a combined bioinformatics/knowledge-based platform approach, ISM-001 which specifically inhibits the VEGF-A165b isoform of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-A (VEGF-A); based on 20 years of research by the company Founders, the evidence shows reducing serum levels of VEGF-A165b is key to ensuring new blood vessel formation in patients with ischemic disease.
The mechanism of action of ISM-001 is unique and would be the only treatment to target a key pathway and reduce harmful serum levels of VEGF165b. ISM-001 would provide an unparalleled approach to treatment of patients including those with Type II diabetes mellitus and peripheral vascular disease at risk of amputation.
BioKier is developing a proprietary oral treatment for diabetes based on understanding the mechanism of the anti-diabetic effects of metabolic surgery and malabsorption as previously described. Independent of its weight loss effect, metabolic surgery substantially improves or even resolves diabetes within days in 80 to 90 percent of obese Type 2 diabetes patients. This surgery is equally effective in non-obese diabetes patients. BioKier has devised a proprietary method to mimic the effects of intestinal shortening surgery and potentially improve or resolve diabetes without the physical trauma and cost of bariatric surgery. Diabetes has long been recognized as a major contributor to the development of cardiovascular disease. Heart disease and stroke are the major causes of death and disability among people with Type 2 diabetes.
GI Windows is a clinical-stage medical device company developing a non-surgical approach to create anastomoses in the GI tract. Their patented self-assembling magnets are designed to enable an incision-less and durable intestinal bypass to treat chronic diseases, such as Type-2 Diabetes and Obesity, without the cost and invasiveness of surgical interventions.
Gila Therapeuticsis a clinical-stage biotherapeutic company focused on pharmacological treatment of obesity employing intra-oral application of naturally occurring satiety hormones to induce early fullness, leading to weight loss. Targeting a unique and recently discovered direct neural pathway between the tongue and brain, Gila is developing formulations that when applied to the tongue prior to meals directly stimulates the brain’s satiety centers intended to reduce food intake without any systemic exposure.
Gila, based in Minnesota, was founded in 2014 by Andres Acosta, Sergei Zolotukhin and Thomas Vasicek who serves as the CSO. Scott Schorer serves as the CEO.
Kantum Pharma is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies to prevent or reduce inflammation initiated through the uridine diphosphate (UDP)-glucose/P2Y14 purinergic receptor signaling pathway in organs such as the kidneys, lungs and female reproductive tract. The Company’s initial small molecule therapeutic program, KB-1801, has been shown preclinically to reduce renal inflammation and has the potential to transform the treatment paradigm for acute kidney injury, which occurs in 30% of cardiac surgeries and kills over 300,000 people each year in the US. Kantum is pursuing additional applications of this technology for therapeutics and diagnostics to ameliorate the impact of numerous inflammatory disorders.
Mellitus is dedicated to advancing diabetes detection and monitoring through products based on GCD59, a biomarker of glycemic control that is unique because of its direct relationship to the complications of diabetes. Our premier application is a patient-friendly test for gestational diabetes, enabling more timely intervention to improve the health of both mother and child. We plan to commercialize our products through strategic partners as we expand indications to benefit all individuals with diabetes.
Antag Therapeutics is a Copenhagen-based preclinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing therapies for dietary-related metabolic diseases. The company’s current lead therapy is a glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide receptor (GIPR) antagonist for inducing weight loss in obese patients with Type-2 Diabetes. The Company’s technology is based upon decades of incretin physiology and diabetes research from the laboratories of Professors Mette Rosenkilde and Jens Juul Holst at the University of Copenhagen, which played a pivotal role in the establishment of dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitor and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist drug classes.
