Fractyl Health has expanded an academic-industry scientific partnership charged with advancing research on the role of the gut and pancreas in metabolic disease. The new research, to be led by Professor Randy Seeley of Michigan Medicine, is intended to explore the mechanistic rationale underlying the use of local pancreatic gene therapy to produce targeted treatment options that address, and hopefully remit, metabolic diseases.
“T2D and obesity are two of society’s most vexing chronic diseases. We now have much better tools in the toolbox, but all rely on chronic therapy to achieve their benefits. Therapies, where the intervention can be more limited but still achieve durable disease modification, are sorely needed,” said Seeley, Henry King Ransom Professor of Surgery and Director of Michigan Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Michigan School of Medicine. “My lab and I are excited to explore how pancreatic gene therapy may redefine how to think about treating T2D and obesity while reducing the burden on patients.”
The mission of the ERASE Task Force is to catalyse discoveries that may inform how T2D and obesity can be better understood and hopefully ‘erased.’ The ambition is that this collaboration will lead to a deeper understanding of the possible ways to target the gut and pancreas to durably change the trajectory of these diseases.
“We stand at the cusp of a transformative leap in our battle against T2D and obesity, diseases that have long challenged our global society and yet still lack durable solutions,” said Dr Harith Rajagopalan, co-founder and CEO of Fractyl Health. “We are excited to deepen our scientific collaboration with Dr Seeley to explore the metabolic mechanisms underpinning a one-time gene therapy in the pancreas.”
The ERASE Task Force is an academic-industry scientific partnership built on decades of scientific investigation which has identified the critical role of the gut and pancreas as regulators of metabolic disease. The signalling mechanisms between the gut, pancreas and the rest of the body are numerous and not yet fully delineated. The ERASE Task Force is charged with advancing research to catalyse future discoveries that may inform how T2D and obesity can be better understood and ultimately erased.
Fractyl Health’s Rejuva platform focuses on developing next-generation adeno-associated virus-based, locally delivered gene therapies for the treatment of T2D and obesity. The Rejuva platform is in preclinical development and has not yet been evaluated by regulatory agencies for investigational or commercial use. Rejuva leverages advanced delivery systems and proprietary screening methods to identify and develop metabolically active gene therapy candidates targeting the pancreas. The program aims to transform the management of metabolic diseases by offering novel, disease-modifying therapies that address the underlying root causes of disease.