About 200,000 people undergo gastric bypass surgery each year and contribute to an estimated $147 billion in obesity-related healthcare costs. Many are patients who opt for the surgery as a way to treat or prevent Type 2 diabetes. But a biotechnology company thinks it may have a nonsurgical option in the form of a drug that replicates the effect of the procedure.
BioKier, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has raised $2 million from the American Heart Association’s Science & Technology Accelerator and from Broadview Ventures, its first institutional backing since the company’s start four years ago. It’s also the second company to receive funding from the American Heart Association since it started its accelerator. CytoVas was the first recipient.
In addition to angel investors, it has received funding from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.
One reason why gastric bypass helps prevent Type 2 diabetes is it expedites the delivery of certain nutrients to the lower gut and improves the secretion of glucoregulatory gut hormones. Here’s BioKier’s description of its treatment: The oral therapeutic stimulates the L cells in the lower gut that improves the secretion of gut hormones including endogenous GLP-1, GLP-2, PYY and oxyntomodulin, according to a company statement.
The funding will help the company carry out two preliminary clinical trials.
In an interview with MedCity News, Roger Nolan, the president of the company, said though there are other drugs that offer an alternative to surgery, he sees his company’s drug as offering a safer alternative because it’s using nutrients to naturally restore a function in the body.
The drug alternative to surgery fits in with the national drive to reduce healthcare costs.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
