Gelesis reports completion of treatment for last patient in pivotal GLOW study

Jul 12 2017

Gelesis, Inc., a biotechnology company developing a novel category of therapies to safely induce weight loss, improve glycemic control, and treat other chronic diseases related to the gastrointestinal (GI) pathway, is pleased to report today that the last patient has completed treatment in the pivotal GLOW (Gelesis Loss Of Weight) Study. The GLOW study was designed to assess the long-term efficacy and safety of lead product candidate Gelesis100 over a six-month period across a broad patient population. The company has also enrolled its first European patient in the ongoing LIGHT-UP study with its second product candidate, Gelesis200, for weight loss and glycemic control. The study will enroll individuals who are overweight or have obesity and also have prediabetes or metformin-treated type 2 diabetes at more than 30 sites across the United States, Canada, and Europe.

"We're pleased to have reached these two milestones for Gelesis as we continue to progress our platform technology and expand our pipeline," said Hassan Heshmati MD, Chief Medical Officer of Gelesis. "We're also continuing to establish a body of data around our platform technology, as we explore additional GI-related conditions such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)."

Further investigation of the Gelesis mechanism has led to an international collaboration with leading obesity and nutrition experts and new insights about how people with prediabetes respond to different types of diets, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. "We are learning a remarkable amount about the potential positive impact on local inflammation and glycemic parameters through our unique hydrogel system that is at the forefront of mechanobiology," added Elaine Chiquette, Pharm.D., EVP Head of Science, Gelesis. "This emerging field at the interface of biology and engineering focuses on how cells sense and respond to mechanical stimuli and is helping us to unlock insights into the gut-brain-inflammation axis."