Nordic biotech company Pila Pharma saw stocks soar this year due its asset XEN-D0501 – a formulated as an oral tablet currently undergoing clinical phase II testing as a treatment for obesity in patients with type 2 diabetes.
The company was founded by Dorte X. Gram, a former Novo Nordisk researcher who during her time at the company discovered a potentially new mechanism of action for the treatment of metabolic diseases.
Pila Pharma CEO Gustav Gram, stated: “These years stock developments for a lot of companies in this segment, illustrates that obesity medication is on everybody’s minds.
“We are of course pleased that investors are now looking at us as a potential player with an innovative approach, even though we still have progress to make, before we can potentially assess whether our unique and potential first-in-class drug, could become a player for the continuously growing and fragmenting obesity market.
“We potentially have a very interesting drug candidate, which could have helpful effects on these very common global diseases of diabetes and obesity and would differentiate itself from other, currently approved drugs.
“This is a tablet-based formulation for which we see broad demand on a global scale, and it has a different side-effect profile than the GLP-1 drugs that are known to cause nausea, diarrhoea, and constipation.”
In past months, Pila Pharma has experienced a large uptick in international shareholder numbers.
Gram continued: “The strength of being a stock that’s attractive to private investors shouldn’t be underestimated but we are hoping and of course working toward getting heavier and more long-term institutional investors on board as our valuation hopefully increases.
“However, in order to attract the interest of larger asset managers and pension funds, we need to be able to show more results. So of course, generating new data plays a central role in our long-term plan to increase our valuation and to make the stock more solid.”
Pila Pharma is making the last preparations before a new, larger safety study in patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity can commence. In addition to evaluating safety, the company will also look at efficacy parameters such as weight reduction.
The company’s primary drug candidate, XEN-D0501, has in earlier studies shown promising effects in diabetes as well as a large reduction in a biomarker for heart failure. Pila Pharma is therefore also greatly focused on the molecule being tested as a treatment for other diseases that are associated with diabetes and obesity, including different cardiovascular diseases.
The company has now initiated a new preclinical study to investigate decrease in progression of abdominal aorta aneurysms, which is a cardiovascular disease.
