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October 18, 2023

Biohaven says drug candidate shows promise for weight loss

PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Dr. Vlad Coric, CEO and chairman of Biohaven.

New Haven-based biopharmaceutical company Biohaven Ltd. has signaled a potential move into the anti-obesity drug space.

This week, the company indicated that its investigational therapy taldefgrobep alfa was able to “significantly reduce” fat mass and increase lean mass in obese mice. It also reported that preclinical data supports a correlation between a change in waist circumference and total body weight in overweight and obese adults. 

Biohaven presented the information Oct. 15 at The Obesity Society's annual ObesityWeek conference in Dallas.

Dr. Peter Ackerman, vice president and clinical lead for metabolic disorders at Biohaven, noted that obesity is a “public health crisis,” and alternative treatments are needed.

Approximately 42% of adults in the U.S. are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"It is important that we carefully consider the quality of resulting body composition changes, including the degree of lean muscle loss,” Ackerman said.

He said that taldefgrobep offers the potential for a “meaningful reduction in fat mass, the primary pathogenic tissue in obesity, while increasing lean mass.” 

According to the company, untreated mice exhibited an increase in fat mass of 31%, while taldefgrobep-treated mice demonstrated increases in lean mass of 25% and lost 11% of their baseline fat.

The mice treated with the drug also had lower insulin and leptin levels, Biohaven reported.

It plans to conduct a phase 2 obesity study with taldefgrobep in 2024. 

Biohaven is also pursuing potential therapies for diseases and conditions such as epilepsy, obsessive-compulsive disorder, spinocerebellar ataxia, neuropathic pain and multiple myeloma.

In mid-September, the company indicated it completed enrollment for a phase 3 study of taldefgrobep alfa for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy, a rare genetic neurodegenerative disorder. About 180 patients are participating in a global trial of the drug’s safety and efficacy.

The company also recently announced it planned to raise $225 million in a public stock offering

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