Latest news with #AnodyneNanotech
Business Wire
7 hours ago
- Health
- Business Wire
Anodyne Nanotech Drives Major Advancement in the Treatment of Sarcopenia with Novel Muscle-Preserving Therapy
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Anodyne Nanotech, a clinical-stage biotech company, today announced new preclinical data demonstrating that administration of ANN-102 - an APJ receptor agonist via its proprietary HeroPatch™ microneedle system - significantly improved muscle strength, with efficacy equivalent to daily injections. These results lay the foundation for a novel, non-invasive, muscle-preserving therapy aimed at addressing sarcopenia, a major health challenge in aging populations. Beginning at age 30, people lose on average 3–8% of their muscle mass per decade, and this accelerates after age 60. By the time individuals reach their 80s or 90s, up to 50% of their muscle mass may be lost, particularly in those who are inactive. This deterioration extends beyond reduced strength; it increases vulnerability to chronic diseases, falls, fractures, hospitalization and loss of independence. Population studies have shown that muscle wasting is associated with up to a 36% increase in all-cause mortality, and it is a critical risk factor in cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory illness, and metabolic decline. Beyond its clinical toll, sarcopenia places a substantial economic burden on healthcare systems. In the United States alone, hospitalizations related to sarcopenia in adults over 65 cost an estimated $19.1 billion annually, underscoring the urgent need for scalable, preventive interventions that can help preserve muscle mass and physical function as people age. By targeting the APJ receptor, Anodyne's ANN-102 engages a powerful pathway implicated in several aging-related processes. Activation of this receptor has been shown to stimulate muscle stem cell activity and vascular repair, supporting muscle regeneration and directly addressing sarcopenia. It also improves insulin sensitivity, enhances mitochondrial function, promotes fat oxidation, and helps regulate appetite—offering metabolic benefits particularly relevant in older adults. Additionally, APJ receptor activation has demonstrated cardioprotective effects, including reduced myocardial damage and improved vascular function. Taken together, these effects position the APJ pathway as a promising therapeutic target for extending healthspan and addressing the systemic decline associated with aging. In a 20-day study in an aged mouse model, ANN-102 significantly increased grip strength, a common marker of functional muscle performance and a powerful predictor of overall longevity. The treatment was as effective as daily injections with an endogenous APJ RA, demonstrating the potential for a first non-invasive, sustained delivery. Full data will be presented later this year. 'These preclinical results continue to demonstrate the HeroPatch's ability to deliver complex therapies through the skin in a clinically meaningful way,' said Jake Lombardo, Anodyne's CEO and Co-Founder. 'We have developed an alternative route of administration for molecules that have strong therapeutic potential but have been held back by delivery challenges. This can make life-changing therapies accessible to patients for the first time.' Anodyne's lead asset is a once-weekly transdermal GLP-1 patch for obesity, entering clinical trials in 2026. While GLP-1 receptor agonists like semaglutide (Wegovy®) and tirzepatide (Zepbound®) have demonstrated significant weight loss benefits, emerging research has raised concerns about their impact on muscle mass. Studies indicate that up to 40% of weight lost on GLP-1 therapies may come from lean body mass, including muscle tissue, particularly in older adults or those with low baseline muscle reserves. Given Anodyne's ability to co-formulate multiple therapeutic agents in a single patch, there is substantial potential to combine GLP-1-based therapies with muscle-preserving agents like an APJ-RA in a single, patient-friendly patch—addressing both obesity and sarcopenia in an integrated approach to healthy aging. Based on these encouraging preclinical results, Anodyne will advance the APJ-RA program toward clinical development. The company is open to strategic partnerships and co-development opportunities to accelerate the path toward delivering this promising muscle-preserving therapy to patients worldwide. About Anodyne Nanotech Anodyne Nanotech develops novel therapies by combining proven molecules with its proprietary HeroPatch technology. Designed to simplify chronic disease management, the HeroPatch has the potential to reduce side effects, eliminate refrigeration requirements, and improve clinical outcomes. The company is advancing multiple assets into clinical development for conditions such as diabetes, obesity, autoimmune diseases, and oncology. For more information, visit
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Anodyne Nanotech Drives Major Advancement in the Treatment of Sarcopenia with Novel Muscle-Preserving Therapy
BOSTON, June 09, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Anodyne Nanotech, a clinical-stage biotech company, today announced new preclinical data demonstrating that administration of ANN-102 - an APJ receptor agonist via its proprietary HeroPatch™ microneedle system - significantly improved muscle strength, with efficacy equivalent to daily injections. These results lay the foundation for a novel, non-invasive, muscle-preserving therapy aimed at addressing sarcopenia, a major health challenge in aging populations. Beginning at age 30, people lose on average 3–8% of their muscle mass per decade, and this accelerates after age 60. By the time individuals reach their 80s or 90s, up to 50% of their muscle mass may be lost, particularly in those who are inactive. This deterioration extends beyond reduced strength; it increases vulnerability to chronic diseases, falls, fractures, hospitalization and loss of independence. Population studies have shown that muscle wasting is associated with up to a 36% increase in all-cause mortality, and it is a critical risk factor in cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory illness, and metabolic decline. Beyond its clinical toll, sarcopenia places a substantial economic burden on healthcare systems. In the United States alone, hospitalizations related to sarcopenia in adults over 65 cost an estimated $19.1 billion annually, underscoring the urgent need for scalable, preventive interventions that can help preserve muscle mass and physical function as people age. By targeting the APJ receptor, Anodyne's ANN-102 engages a powerful pathway implicated in several aging-related processes. Activation of this receptor has been shown to stimulate muscle stem cell activity and vascular repair, supporting muscle regeneration and directly addressing sarcopenia. It also improves insulin sensitivity, enhances mitochondrial function, promotes fat oxidation, and helps regulate appetite—offering metabolic benefits particularly relevant in older adults. Additionally, APJ receptor activation has demonstrated cardioprotective effects, including reduced myocardial damage and improved vascular function. Taken together, these effects position the APJ pathway as a promising therapeutic target for extending healthspan and addressing the systemic decline associated with aging. In a 20-day study in an aged mouse model, ANN-102 significantly increased grip strength, a common marker of functional muscle performance and a powerful predictor of overall longevity. The treatment was as effective as daily injections with an endogenous APJ RA, demonstrating the potential for a first non-invasive, sustained delivery. Full data will be presented later this year. "These preclinical results continue to demonstrate the HeroPatch's ability to deliver complex therapies through the skin in a clinically meaningful way," said Jake Lombardo, Anodyne's CEO and Co-Founder. "We have developed an alternative route of administration for molecules that have strong therapeutic potential but have been held back by delivery challenges. This can make life-changing therapies accessible to patients for the first time." Anodyne's lead asset is a once-weekly transdermal GLP-1 patch for obesity, entering clinical trials in 2026. While GLP-1 receptor agonists like semaglutide (Wegovy®) and tirzepatide (Zepbound®) have demonstrated significant weight loss benefits, emerging research has raised concerns about their impact on muscle mass. Studies indicate that up to 40% of weight lost on GLP-1 therapies may come from lean body mass, including muscle tissue, particularly in older adults or those with low baseline muscle reserves. Given Anodyne's ability to co-formulate multiple therapeutic agents in a single patch, there is substantial potential to combine GLP-1-based therapies with muscle-preserving agents like an APJ-RA in a single, patient-friendly patch—addressing both obesity and sarcopenia in an integrated approach to healthy aging. Based on these encouraging preclinical results, Anodyne will advance the APJ-RA program toward clinical development. The company is open to strategic partnerships and co-development opportunities to accelerate the path toward delivering this promising muscle-preserving therapy to patients worldwide. About Anodyne Nanotech Anodyne Nanotech develops novel therapies by combining proven molecules with its proprietary HeroPatch technology. Designed to simplify chronic disease management, the HeroPatch has the potential to reduce side effects, eliminate refrigeration requirements, and improve clinical outcomes. The company is advancing multiple assets into clinical development for conditions such as diabetes, obesity, autoimmune diseases, and oncology. For more information, visit View source version on Contacts Jake LombardoChief Executive Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Boston Globe
19-02-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
No more needles? Startups are testing patches to deliver weight-loss drugs and other medications.
Advertisement The first patch that could effectively deliver these kinds of drugs 'would open the floodgates to a broader move away from the antiquated needle and syringe,' says Michael Schrader, a founder of several startups, including Cambridge-based Vaxess Technologies, which is working on drug-delivery patches. Several approaches in the industry have been tried without success, Schrader says. The latest, which Vaxess and several other companies are pursuing, use 'microneedles' spread across a sticker to get into the skin with a little sensation of roughness — but no single poke. The microneedles are often made of polymers that have the drug integrated into them, so the medication simply dissolves once it reaches the fluid beneath the skin, rather than being funneled through a metallic needle, as with a typical hypodermic shot. One Boston startup working on patches, Anodyne Nanotech, is focusing initially on the GLP-1 weight loss drugs. Cofounder and chief business officer Konstantinos Tzortzakis confesses that he is 'super needle-phobic, and I cannot swallow pills. When I need to have a blood test, I get nervous.' (As of last month, he had not yet had a flu shot for this season.) Anodyne — which means 'without pain' in Greek and Latin — was founded in 2019, with a license to use microneedle design and manufacturing processes originally developed at Tufts University. Tzortzakis says that the microneedles on the patch that Anodyne is developing are less than one millimeter in length, 'small enough that they don't touch any nerve endings.' The big challenges, he says, are ensuring that a patch can deliver a large enough dose to be useful for a drug like Wegovy or Ozempic and that the patch can deliver the same dose reliably — rather than delivering a larger dose one week and a smaller dose the next. Advertisement Schrader says that latter issue was a key factor in the 2022 failure in clinical trials of another patch system, from Boston-based Radius Health. Radius had hoped to win Food and Drug Administration approval for a patch that would deliver a drug to treat osteoporosis; the patch technology was originally developed inside Minnesota-based 3M Corp. Radius didn't respond to several requests for comment, but the company doesn't seem to be continuing to pursue patch-based delivery, according to its website and recent press releases. Another company, Zosano Pharma, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2022 after its patch to help manage migraines flunked clinical trials. From left: Jake Lombardo, Hojatollah Rezaei Nejad, and Konstantinos Tzortzakis, the cofounders of Anodyne Nanotech, a startup working on a way to deliver GLP-1 weight loss drugs through a patch, rather than a needle. Barry Chin/Globe Staff Vaxess originally was focused on using patches to deliver vaccines around the world more efficiently. That approach eliminates the need to keep them cold, or to have someone trained to administer the injections. But in December, Vaxess announced a collaboration with Novo Nordisk, the Danish company that makes Ozempic and Wegovy, to look at the efficacy of Vaxess's patch — which relies on a small applicator device to affix it to the skin — for delivering those drugs. Schrader left Vaxess in 2024 to start another company. Rachel Sha, a veteran of the French drugmaker Sanofi, took over as chief executive last May. She says that Vaxess, with offices in Cambridge and a manufacturing facility in Woburn, has been working over the past year to generate data from animal testing that shows the patch can be effective in delivering GLP-1 drugs. (The company has not yet reported that data, but Sha calls it 'quite impressive.') Advertisement Vaxess has 42 employees and has raised nearly $100 million in venture capital funding and grants. Sha says that although the company has conducted early clinical trials for a seasonal flu vaccine that could be delivered with its patch, the company has shifted its focus away from a flu vaccine. She doesn't expect clinical trials for delivering a therapeutic drug, like a GLP-1 agonist, to begin until 2026. A third local company, Lybra Bio, spun out from labs at Brigham & Women's Hospital and MIT just last year. It envisions a patch to treat skin conditions like psoriasis and alopecia areata, which causes hair loss. Some drugs for those conditions, cofounder Núria Puigmal Domínguez says, are applied topically, and 'don't get to the deeper layers of the skin.' Others require injections designed to suppress the immune system, and they can impact the entire body, she says. Lybra envisions a patch that could deliver drugs to precisely where they're needed on the skin — like the scalp, in the case of alopecia. Domínguez says the company has raised some early funding from individual investors and hopes to begin testing in humans by 2027. Anodyne has raised $9.5 million in funding so far and is currently trying to raise more, Tzortzakis says. So it's still early days for these companies. Venture capitalist Bruce Booth of Atlas Venture, who is not an investor in any of the three local startups, says that needle-free delivery of medication and vaccines 'is certainly a nut many are trying to crack.' Other competitors include Micron Biomedical, an Atlanta company that pulled in $16 million in funding last month, and an Australian company called Vaxxas. (Vaxxas has an outpost in Cambridge, located about three miles from Vaxess.) Advertisement If the next few years see patches for these kinds of vaccines and medications win approval, there will be several benefits. Drugmakers will get to extend the patent duration of a drug they've already developed — adding up to 20 years of patent coverage by combining it with a patch, creating a new type of 'combination' product, according to DeAnn Smith of the law firm Foley Hoag. It'll be cheaper and easier to get drugs to patients, Schrader explains, since refrigeration won't be required. (He envisions a seasonal flu vaccine that could be sent to individuals in the mail once a year.) And trypanophobes — people who fear needles — would find life a little less stressful. Scott Kirsner can be reached at
