Obesity biotech Kalohexis files confidential IPO
Kalohexis chief executive Russell Potterfield.
Just weeks after forming as a spinout from Endevica Bio, obesity drug developer Kalohexis has filed for an IPO, whilst initially keeping the details of its offer under wraps.
Terms of the offering have not yet been determined, said the company in a statement, which said they will be set after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) completes a review of the plan.
Endevica launched Northbrook, Illinois-based Kalohexis in March to advance a portfolio of peptide drugs harnessing the melanocortin (MC) system – a natural regulator of metabolic homeostasis – for the treatment of metabolic disorders such as obesity and cancer cachexia, and has since moved its first candidate into human trials.
Dosing in a phase 1 trial of lead programme 710GO, an oral dual melanocortin-3 receptor/melanocortin-4 receptor (MC3R/MC4R) agonist, started in Australia in May and is expected to recruit around 100 obese or healthy overweight volunteers.
In preclinical testing involving overweight non-human primates, the drug demonstrated an average weight reduction of 11.7% compared to control, without the side effects seen with the current generation of GLP-1 agonist weight-loss therapies like Novo Nordisk's Wegovy (semaglutide) and Eli Lilly's Zepbound (tirzepatide), such as loss of lean body mass, gastrointestinal distress and rapid weight regain following treatment cessation.
Combination treatment of obese NHPs with 710GO and semaglutide over 19 days demonstrated an average weight reduction of 6.5% compared to a reduction of 3.0% with semaglutide monotherapy over the same time period.
Kalohexis chief executive Russell Potterfield said when the trial started that 710GO can "establish a new metabolic set point for the body to actively maintain" and "represents a differentiated treatment option for general obesity with the potential to enable healthier, more durable weight loss."
Meanwhile, a dual MC3R/MC4R antagonist, mifomelatide, is in phase 2 clinical development to prevent and treat cachexia – a devastating wasting syndrome that can hinder patients' ability to withstand chemotherapy and affect their survival – in patients with advanced cancer.
Kalohexis' decision to press the IPO button so soon after its formation comes amid a resurgence in listings on the Nasdaq this year, with some sky-high returns such as the record-breaking $625 million raised by Kailera Therapeutics, another obesity drug developer, in April.
