Veru Inc. (NASDAQ: VERU), a late clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel medicines for the treatment of obesity, oncology, and viral induced acute respiratory distress syndrome, today announced submission of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the development of enobosarm for obesity.
Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) drugs are very effective drugs that result in significant weight loss. Unfortunately, up to 50% of the total weight loss comes from muscle which is problematic as muscle is necessary for metabolism, strength, and physical function. According to the CDC, 41.5% of older U.S. adults have obesity and could benefit from a weight loss medication. Up to 34.4% of these patients over the age of 60 have sarcopenic obesity which means patients are overweight or obese and also have age-related low muscle mass. Sarcopenic obese patients are potentially at the greatest risk for developing critically low amounts of muscle mass when taking a GLP-1 RA medication for the treatment of obesity. Patients with critically low muscle mass may experience muscle weakness leading to poor balance, decreased gait speed, mobility disability, loss of independence, falls, bone fractures and increased mortality.
“We believe there is an urgent unmet medical need for a drug that when given in combination with GLP-1 RA therapy prevents the loss of muscle, while preferentially reducing fat in not only overweight or obese patients, but especially for sarcopenic obese or overweight elderly patients who are at-risk for developing muscle atrophy and muscle weakness leading to frailty,” stated Mitchell Steiner, M.D., Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Veru Inc. “Today’s announcement is an important milestone for Veru and ultimately for the many patients who desire to avoid loss of muscle when taking a GLP-1 RA drug for weight loss.”
Planned Phase 2b Enobosarm for Obesity Clinical Trial
The Company plans to conduct a Phase 2b multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, dose-finding clinical trial designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of enobosarm 3mg, 6mg, or placebo as a treatment to augment fat loss and to prevent muscle loss in approximately 90 randomized sarcopenic obese or overweight elderly patients receiving a GLP-1 RA who are at-risk for developing muscle atrophy and muscle weakness. The primary endpoint of the Phase 2b clinical trial will be the change in lean body mass (muscle) from baseline to 3 months and key secondary endpoints will be the change from baseline to 3 months in total fat mass, insulin resistance, total body weight, and physical function measured by the stair climb test. The primary 3-month clinical data from the Phase 2b clinical trial is currently expected in calendar Q4 2024. The purpose of the Phase 2b clinical trial is to select the optimal dose of enobosarm in combination with a GLP-1 RA that best preserves muscle and reduces fat after 3 months of treatment to advance into a Phase 3 obesity or overweight clinical trial.
After completing the 3-month efficacy dose-finding portion of the Phase 2b clinical trial, participants will then continue into an open label extension trial where all patients will receive 6 mg of enobosarm for 3 months to determine the ability of enobosarm to rescue or reverse muscle loss and prevent fat and weight rebound after stopping a GLP-1 RA drug.
