Unigene Laboratories selects UGP281 lead peptide from obesity program for development

Dec 18 2009

Unigene Laboratories, Inc. (OTCBB: UGNE, http://www.unigene.com) announced today that it has selected a lead peptide compound, designated UGP281, from its obesity program for development. In a short-term study reported at the Keystone Symposium Conference on “Obesity: Novel Aspects of the Regulation of Body Weight” last January, a previously developed compound, orally-administered UGL269, reduced food intake in dogs by up to 50% and correspondingly reduced body weight. Subsequent studies by Unigene have led to the development of UGP281, a peptide modeled after naturally-occurring hormones which is significantly more potent than UGL269 and achieves the same reduction in food consumption at a lower dose. Importantly, in comparative animal studies at the same dose, UGP281 was at least 3-fold more effective in reducing food consumption than certain other peptide compounds that are currently in later-stage clinical development by third parties for accelerated weight loss. In addition, there were no overt signs of toxicity. The pronounced reductions in feeding behavior, as well as the weight of the animals after daily administration of this peptide, persisted over several weeks of dosing. The peptide has the additional advantages that it can be delivered orally using Unigene’s Enteripep^® technology and manufactured using Unigene’s Secrapep^® technology.

“Obesity is one of the fastest-growing public health issues in the United States, as well as in several other countries,” said Dr. Warren Levy, President and CEO of Unigene. “The treatment of obesity is still largely an unmet medical need, and we believe that Unigene’s obesity program offers the potential to identify peptides that may significantly alter food intake in obese individuals and thus reduce the health care cost and the burdens associated with it.”

It has been estimated by the NIH that almost one third of the adult US population is obese, and if current trends continue, 103 million American adults will be considered obese by 2018. Obesity is a known risk factor for a variety of diseases and conditions such as diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, osteoarthritis, gall bladder disease, sleep apnea and some forms of cancer. Several calculations have estimated that at least $75 billion in health care costs are directly attributable to obesity.