10092637Dosage study for validation of a novel weight loss treatmentClosedInvestment AcceleratorInnovate UKReducing food intake by lowering appetite is critical for weight loss, an urgent public health issue that has resulted in a global obesity epidemic. Research by our scientific group led to a key discovery - a novel and effective means to reduce appetite in obese people, culminating in a series of international patents, and publication in a prestigious scientific journal. Our company, Enterika, was set up to take this discovery to market as a product that could suppress appetite resulting in weight loss. For a while, it has been known that specialised cells in various parts of the intestine can sense different nutrients by specialised receptors (molecules) on the outsides of the cells lining the intestine wall. Our discovery was that targeting certain nutrients specifically to the lower gut (colon) gives rise to appetite suppression by activation of some of these specific sensor molecules. In turn, these cells then release hormones into the blood stream and activate sensory nerves leading to appetite suppression. A critical part of our discovery was that different nutrients act via different molecules, and only by combining the actions of more than one nutrient could we stimulate this process. Another critical finding was that naturally occurring dietary nutrients are effective in triggering this response in small quantities. This means our approach is drug-free, safe and could have broader health benefits. We have demonstrated in a clinical trial conducted in obese volunteers that this strategy can reduce food intake and boost hormones that make us feel full, although we needed many nutrient capsules to be taken by volunteers in this study. Therefore, in a more recent clinical study, again in obese volunteers, we showed that a new formulation requiring fewer capsules to be taken worked just as well. We now need to show that different amounts of capsules have different effects to show how dose impacts food intake. This will allow us to produce a medical product that is natural but clinically proven and validated -- the same as a pharmaceutical drug. To our knowledge, no other company or institution is pursuing the approach we have chosen. We are therefore in an ideal position to take these clear steps towards occupying a substantial and successful part of the anti-obesity treatments market, while delivering a clinically proven, medical product that is low-cost and addresses health inequalities.