Delivering the Metabolic Benefits of Bariatric Surgery... in a Pill
AltrixBio’s LuCI™ (Luminal Coating of the Intestine) utilizes the transformational science established by bariatric surgery to deliver a new approach and mechanism for diabetes treatment and related metabolic diseases.
First Oral Therapy That Mimics Gastric Bypass Mechanism
For decades, bariatric surgery has delivered unmatched results for people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity. Bariatric surgery has proven to be the most effective approach for putting T2D into remission and long-term weight loss.¹ AltrixBio developed LuCI™ to replicate the effect of bariatric surgery in a simple, daily, non-systemic oral medication.
LuCI represents a fundamentally different approach to T2D and metabolic conditions: it provides a local, transient coating of both the stomach and proximal intestine that triggers the same hormonal cascade seen in bariatric surgery. Studies have shown that this leads to improved insulin sensitivity, suppressed hunger, and increased satiety hormones, which in turn leads to improved glycemic control and weight loss.² ³
AltrixBio designed LuCI as a "Surgery in a Pill®," a category-defining, patent-protected therapy with the potential to transform treatment of T2D and obesity. LuCI will complement and enhance currently available diabetes medications.
Incretins (GLPs/GIPs) are Helping Millions, but Additional Therapies are Needed
By providing both glycemic control and significant weight loss, injectable incretin treatments (GLP-1s and GLPs/GIPs) are helping millions of individuals achieve their glycemia and weight loss targets.
Because of their potent effects, these medications are demonstrating benefits in other cardiometabolic diseases including cardiovascular risk reduction, metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), sleep apnea and osteoarthritis.
Despite these benefits, over 50% of individuals taking incretins discontinue treatment within a year due to issues that include⁴:
- side effects such as nausea and vomiting
- Injection fatigue and/or a preference for oral medication
- sub-optimal glycemic and/or weight effects
- difficult access to therapy.
Patients need additional therapies that can either compliment or enhance the benefits of the incretins, or be used in place of these medications when patients can no longer tolerate or access them.
LuCI is expected to be a well-tolerated once-daily oral therapy. It provides a coating to both the stomach and upper gastrointestinal tract (both duodenum and jejunum), creating a transient physical barrier that mimics the anatomy of bariatric surgery without surgery, implants, or the concern of systemic absorption.
Built on a backbone of sucralfate, a molecule that has been used in patients for over 40 years, LuCI offers the power of “Surgery in a Pill.”
The Need is Urgent.
Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are growing global health crises. And they’re accelerating.
- In the US, obesity rates rose from 28% to over 34% in just 12 years
- Diabetes now affects nearly 40 million American adults – over 15% of the population
- Globally, obesity has more than doubled since 1990
- T2D prevalence has jumped from 7% to 14% worldwide
The consequences are severe and growing:
- T2D is the leading cause of blindness, amputation, and kidney failure
- Every 7 seconds, someone dies from diabetes complications
- Having T2D nearly doubles the risk of heart attack
Despite the scale of the problem, current treatments aren’t enough.
There’s a clear need for safer, more scalable solutions that work at the root.
A Founding Mission Rooted in Personal Experience
AltrixBio represents more than another biotech venture. Our team is solving a problem we’ve lived.
Ali Tavakkoli, MD, saw diabetes destroy his family. As a bariatric surgeon, he knows from first-hand experience the value of the bariatric surgery metabolic reset; many of his patients with whom he has treated that have diabetes walk out of the hospital no longer requiring their diabetes medications.
Nancy Briefs, executive chair of the board and founder, lost both parents to diabetes. She's spent her career building and commercializing high-impact medical companies and has raised a total of $500M+ to do it. She is passionate about bringing a diabetes treatment that is effective, safe, weight friendly and accessible to benefit individuals around the world.
Jeff Karp, PhD, a prolific inventor and engineer and a proponent of “Radical Simplicity”, set out to create an oral therapy that temporarily recreates the caloric exclusion of bariatric surgery bypass. With his extensive experience in tissue engineering, Dr. Karp repurposed a safe and well-tolerated compound that has over 40 years of clinical history.
"Surgery in a Pill" With Platform Potential
While diabetes is the initial intended application for LuCI, incretins are showing that there is a huge need for metabolic agents that reduce glycemia, reduce weight and improve insulin resistance. LuCI’s mechanism of action (MOA) presents several opportunities for a broader therapeutic platform, including:
- Indications beyond adult type 2 diabetes and which include weight management and maintenance, pediatric type 2 diabetes and cardiometabolic indications such as Metabolic-Associated Steatohepatitis (MASH) and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
- LuCI has the potential to also facilitate oral delivery of other pharmaceuticals (small molecule, peptides, protein) that include the incretins. This potential opens the door to numerous stand alone and combination product forms.
Building Blocks of a De-Risked, Differentiated, Platform-Ready Therapy
Validated mechanism of action
LuCI limits nutrient sensing in a portion of the gut anatomy, thereby eliciting the same gut hormone and metabolic responses seen with bariatric surgery.
Strong preclinical data
Pre-clinical models show LuCI lowered fasting glucose, attenuated weight gain, and improved insulin sensitivity without systemic absorption.
Safe, scalable, affordable
LuCI is based on a well-characterized molecule with 40+ years of clinical use. No new excipients. No systemic exposure. No complex biologics. No cold chain. Manufacturing is lean and scalable at commercial volumes.
Issued patents & expedited FDA path
Core formulation IP issued through 2042. Pre-IND feedback confirms the 505(b)(2) pathway and support for starting trials in people with T2DM.
LuCI Positioned to Transform Standard of Care
A once daily oral with a novel and powerful mechanism of action that can be combined with or used as an alternative to all diabetes medications.
The Next Wave of Metabolic Therapeutics is Here
LuCI™ combines the metabolic benefits of bariatric bypass surgery with the convenience of daily oral dosing that minimizes the barriers and clinical complexity that limit current therapies.
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