Exercise pill that may reduce appetite and mimic physical activity clears first human test

Gym haters, rejoice — the workout of the future may not require breaking a sweat.Biotech company Enveda announced this week that its experimental drug, designed to curb appetite and mimic some of the body’s effects of physical activity, delivered encouraging results in its first clinical trial.“ENV-308 is our attempt to put the chemistry of exercise into a daily tablet,” Viswa Colluru, the startup’s founder and CEO, said in a statement.The pill mimics a molecule called lactate phenylalanine, or Lac-Phe, which scientists at Stanford discovered in 2022.The body produces it naturally when lactate — a chemical released by muscles during vigorous exercise — combines with the amino acid phenylalanine.

Once it enters the bloodstream, Lac-Phe acts sends a signal to the brain to dial down the drive to eat.Studies in animals have also found that it can suppress appetite and reduce obesity.

There’s just one catch: Lac-Phe breaks down quickly, so it doesn’t stay in the bloodstream long enough to keep the urge to eat at bay throughout the day and promote lasting weight loss.That’s where ENV-308 comes in.Enveda’s pill aims to harness Lac-Phe’s benefits in a daily oral tablet, potentially making them last longer.

In a Phase 1 clinical trial, Enveda gave ENV-308 at varying strengths to 88 healthy adults.Notably, the experiment didn’t set out to determine whether the drug actually helped with weight loss.

Instead, researchers were primarily looking at whether it was safe.They found that the participants tolerated the drug across the full range of doses tested, with the company reporting it had an “exceptional gastrointestinal safety profile.”That could be a big deal in the weight-loss-drug world.Nausea, vomiting and other gastrointestinal problems are among the most common reasons people stop taking GLP-1s, the blockbuster class of medications that includes medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy.In animal studies, ENV-308 also preserved lean muscle ...