BioCentury
ARTICLE | Preclinical News

NGM targeting GFRAL for both obesity and cachexia

October 2, 2017 11:12 PM UTC

NGM Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (South San Francisco, Calif.) plans to develop separate candidates modulating GDNF family receptor alpha like (GFRAL) to treat both obesity and cachexia. In a newly published paper, an NGM team showed GFRAL is a receptor for growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), echoing results of recent papers by Novo Nordisk A/S (CSE:NOVOB; NYSE:NVO), Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY) and the Janssen Research & Development LLC unit of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) describing the involvement of GFRAL and GDF15 in obesity. Nature Medicine published those papers in August (see BioCentury Innovations, Sept. 21 and BioCentury Extra, Aug. 28).

In the NGM paper, the team reported that in vitro binding assays showed GDF15 had high affinity for GFRAL -- located exclusively in the area postrema and nucleus of the solitary tract. Intraperitoneal injection of GDF15 induced weight loss and decreased food intake...