CBMR spinout Ousia Pharma raises three-digit million amount to develop their groundbreaking obesity treatment
The spinout builds on a discovery by the Clemmensen Group that NMDA receptor antagonism holds promise for sustained weight loss, which was later published in Nature. The seed financing will support the preclinical and clinical development of a once-weekly, dual-incretin-NMDA receptor antagonist conjugate.
CBMR spinout Ousia Pharma has secured seed funding worth a three-digit million amount from the Boston-based venture fund Omega Funds, four years after it was established by Associate Professor Christoffer Clemmensen. The capital injection will drive the development of the company's leading obesity candidate up to and including the completion of phase 1 studies. The company's drug candidate is designed to address obesity through a so-called triple mechanism of action, potentially offering an alternative and more effective weight loss treatment compared to existing therapies.
"It is incredibly satisfying to see our research into new biological mechanisms underpinning weight regulation form the basis for a potential future form of treatment. At the same time, this investment marks an important milestone – not only for Ousia Pharma, but also for the translational obesity research that originates from our research center and the University of Copenhagen," says Christoffer Clemmensen, who is Ousia Pharma's Chief Scientific Officer in addition to his role as Associate Professor at CBMR.
Ousia Pharma builds on his Group’s discovery that NMDA receptor antagonism holds promise for sustained weight loss. This discovery was later published in the journal, Nature. To develop the potential, Christoffer established the biotech spinout in 2022 together with group members Anders Bue Klein and Jonas Odgaard Petersen, and soon after secured DKK 14 million in pre-seed financing from the BioInnovation Institute.
Their novel strategy is to conjugate small-molecule modulators to incretin hormones to deliver small-molecule neuroplasticity modulators directly to the brain's appetite control centers, which overcomes the challenge of non-specific targeting. The seed financing will support the preclinical and clinical development of a once-weekly, dual-incretin-NMDA receptor antagonist conjugate.
"This investment is a strong recognition of our scientific foundation and the potential our drug candidate represents. With Omega Funds as a partner, we not only get capital, but also strategic sparring and global experience, which will be crucial in our further development. We are now well positioned to bring our preclinical concept to clinical trials," says Anders Bue Klein, CEO of Ousia Pharma.