Pioneering a first-in-class drug-targeting approach that leverages hormone analogues to deliver small-molecule neuroplasticity modulators directly to the brain’s appetite control centers
Ousia Pharma, a next-generation biotech company pioneering a novel drug class for obesity, announced the successful closing of a significant Seed financing round. The round, led and financed exclusively by Omega Funds, will support the preclinical and clinical development of Ousia’s innovative once-weekly, dual-incretin-NMDA receptor antagonist conjugate. Additionally, the funding will drive the expansion of Ousia’s proprietary technology, designed to target NMDA receptor small molecule modulators to specific neuronal populations.
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While GLP-1-based multi-agonists are transforming obesity management, significant challenges remain, including tolerability issues, variability in patient weight loss response, and weight regain. These hurdles underscore the urgent need for more effective pharmacological approaches.
Ousia Pharma’s innovative targeting concept is founded on the groundbreaking discovery that NMDA receptor antagonism holds promise for sustained weight loss. By ingeniously overcoming the challenge of non-specific targeting, Ousia has developed a novel strategy that conjugates small-molecule modulators to incretin hormones (Petersen et al., 2024, Nature). This pioneering work began in the research lab of Associate Professor Christoffer Clemmensen at the University of Copenhagen, culminating in the founding of Ousia Pharma in 2022 by Christoffer Clemmensen, Anders B. Klein, and Jonas Petersen. The company secured its initial pre-seed investments from the BioInnovation Institute in Copenhagen.
“We are excited to enter the next phase of Ousia Pharma’s journey, advancing our groundbreaking platform towards clinical development,” said Anders B. Klein, PhD, CEO of Ousia Pharma. “The strong support from Omega Funds enables us to accelerate the preclinical and clinical validation of our peptide-drug conjugate program, bringing us closer to a transformative treatment for obesity. With a unique mechanism designed to enhance efficacy while addressing key challenges like tolerability, we believe our approach has the potential to set a new standard in obesity therapeutics.”
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“We are thrilled to support Ousia Pharma as they advance a truly innovative approach to obesity treatment,” said Otello Stampacchia, founder and Managing Director at Omega Funds. “Their novel dual-incretin-NMDA receptor antagonist conjugate represents a promising breakthrough in tackling several of the limitations of existing obesity treatments. We believe Ousia’s pioneering science and accomplished team position the company for meaningful impact and value creation, and we are excited to be part of their journey.”
Otello Stampacchia, along with pharmaceutical industry veterans Dr. Elisabeth Björk and Prof. Sir Mene Pangalos, will join the Ousia Pharma board. Pangalos was previously Executive Vice President of BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca, and Bjork was previously SVP of Cardiovascular, Renal, and Metabolism R&D at AstraZeneca, where she led the company’s GLP-1 drug development efforts. They will join existing board members Ian Laquian, CEO of Kariya Pharmaceuticals, and Christoffer Clemmensen, Associate Professor within the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research at the University of Copenhagen and Chief Scientific Officer at Ousia Pharma.
Prof. Sir Mene Pangalos said, “Having worked in the pharmaceutical industry for decades and witnessed many targets emerge and fade in the cardiometabolic space, I can confidently say that the approach taken by Ousia Pharma is one of the most innovative I have encountered. I am extremely excited to contribute to bringing Ousia Pharma’s technology to patients.”
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Source – PR Newswire
