About Us
ERX Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and clinical development of innovative drugs to treat obesity and obesity-associated metabolic diseases.
Obesity is one of the world’s most serious public health problems, with 39.8% of US adults estimated to be obese in 2015-161 and about 50% of the US population expected to be obese by 20302. Obesity contributes to many health risks, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, some cancers and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, all of which reduce quality of life as well as lifespan.3 Our goal is to discover and develop innovative therapeutics for the treatment of obesity in order to improve people’s lives and reduce the burden of disease on our health system and society.
of the US population expected to be obese by 2030
Innovative Science
We are utilizing innovative science to help restore human biology to its naturally designed state. Leptin is a hormone produced by fat cells that is naturally present in humans. Leptin signaling controls appetite, food intake, and energy expenditure. Scientific and medical research since leptin’s discovery 25 years ago has shown that obesity is a condition of leptin resistance.
ERX is led by a team of world-renowned scientific, medical, and business leaders. Using our understanding of the role of leptin in appetite control and relying on our expert drug discovery and clinical development teams, our strategy is to advance leptin sensitizers as drug candidates for the treatment of obesity.
A Novel Biology Platform
ERX Pharmaceuticals was founded in 2014 based on discoveries by Dr. Umut Ozcan, an Associate Professor at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, whose lab researches the mechanisms that lead to the development of obesity and obesity-associated metabolic diseases. By using a novel systems-biology approach, Dr. Ozcan identified ERX-1000, a first-in-class leptin sensitizer.
ERX-1000 showed an unprecedented 45% reduction in body weight in preclinical studies in diet-induced severely obese mice
ERX-1000 recently completed a first-in-human Phase 1, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single and multiple oral dose study in healthy obese and non-obese subjects. ERX holds worldwide commercialization rights to ERX-1000 and a family of compounds from Boston Children’s Hospital pursuant to an exclusive license.
References:
- National Center for Health Statistics
- Wang YC, et al. Lancet. 2011;378:815-25.
- US Department of Health and Human Services National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Managing Overweight and Obesity in Adults. 2013.
