Tiziana Life Sciences Ltd (NASDAQ:TLSA) has reported positive results from a preclinical study evaluating the combination of its lead development candidate intranasal foralumab and semaglutide, which is marketed by Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy.
The study demonstrated that this combination effectively promotes liver homeostasis and reduces inflammation in preclinical models of diet-induced obesity.
Key findings indicate significant reductions in inflammatory markers and improvements in liver function, which Tiziana said suggests a potential new approach for addressing obesity-related metabolic disorders.
The research was conducted by a team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, led by Dr Howard Weiner, who serves as chairman of Tiziana’s scientific advisory board, and Dr Selma Boulenouar.
Dr Weiner expressed excitement about the potential of this novel combination for addressing obesity-related metabolic disorders.
“Nasal foralumab’s ability to modulate immune response in humans has always been promising. Now, combining anti-CD3 with semaglutide resulted in additional benefit on liver homeostasis and reduced inflammation in this mouse model,” he said in a statement.
“This could pave the way for an entirely new approach in treating obesity-related metabolic disorders,"
Tiziana plans to advance these promising preclinical findings toward human clinical trials.
“We are excited by these findings, which demonstrate nasal foralumab’s potential to significantly enhance the therapeutic effects of semaglutide,” Tiziana CEO Ivor Elrifi commented.
“This combination may present a breakthrough approach to treating not only obesity but also the downstream metabolic complications that are often hard to manage with current therapies.”
Shares of Tiziana moved higher on the update, adding over 20% on Wednesday morning.