The drug is based on research conducted at MIT by gastroenterologist and mechanical engineer Giovanni Traverso, and Robert Langer, a chemical engineer who has launched more than 20 biotechnology companies.
The two discovered a mechanism while working on ways to develop liquid drug formulations that could be given to children. They soon realized that this temporary synthetic coating could be made more or less permeable to enhance absorption or slow it down. The latter’s abilities were attractive as a treatment for obesity.
“This material is taken as a capsule or liquid, but it disappears the next day due to the spontaneous rotation of the mucosal surface of the digestive tract,” says Travelso. He and Langer co-founded Dunda and Cinch in 2022. He likens the coating to what mussels and other shellfish use to stick to rocks and seabeds.
Syntis published results showed that the drug was delivered directly to the small intestine in liquid form via a tube, allowing researchers to see the polymer coating formed as expected. The tablet shape has already been tested on pigs and dogs, and that Syntis plans to test in future human research.
In rats, the drug produced a consistent 1% weekly weight loss over a 6-week study period, maintaining 100% of lean muscle mass.
In human’s initial pilot study of nine participants, the drug was safe and had no adverse effects. Tissue samples collected from the intestine were used to confirm that the coating had formed within 24 hours and was removed from the body as well. Although this study was not designed to assess weight loss, blood tests showed lower glucose levels and “horg” ghrelin and higher levels of the appetite-regulating hormone leptin after drug administration.
“When nutrients are redirected to the second half of the intestines, they activate pathways that lead to satiety, energy expenditure and overall healthy and sustainable weight loss,” says Dunda.
The discovery of Syntis Bio in animals suggests the potential for weight loss drugs without compromising muscle mass, one of the current concerns about GLP-1 drugs. Weight loss is generally associated with many health benefits; growth evidence The dramatic type of weight loss induced by GLP-1 can also lead to loss of lean muscle mass.
Louis Aronne, an obesity medicine expert and professor of metabolism research at Weill-Cornell Medical College, says that GLP-1 is extremely popular, but may not be right for everyone. He predicts that there will be many drugs for obesity in the not too distant future, and treatment will be more personalized. “I think Syntis compound is perfectly suited to an early-use treatment. I think this is the kind of thing you can use as your first choice,” he says. Arrone serves as the company’s clinical advisor.
Vladimir Kusinir, a professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis and director of obesity endoscopy in St. Louis who is not involved in Sintis, says that early pilot data is encouraging, but it is difficult to draw conclusions from such a small study. He hopes the drug will enhance people, but it can also have some of the same side effects as gastric bypass surgery. “My guess is that this will cause digestive side effects like bloating and abdominal cramps, and even more, if you enter into larger research, digestive side effects like diarrhea, nausea and nausea,” he says.
It’s early on for this new technique, but if it proves effective, it could one day be an alternative or add-on to GLP-1 drug.
