[Good Brain 2024] CEO Seulgi Lee "GLP-1 Has Great Potential for Degenerative Brain Disease Expansion"

'2024 Good Brain Conference'
DND Pharmatech Develops Degenerative Brain Disease Treatment 'NLY01'
Shows Therapeutic Effect in Young Parkinson's Patients

Glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 drugs, which have gained popularity as "miracle obesity drugs," are now actively expanding their treatment scope to degenerative brain diseases.

Seulgi Lee, CEO of DND Pharmatech, attended the '2024 Good Brain Conference' hosted by Asia Economy on the 11th at the Diamond Hall of The Plaza Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, and gave a lecture on the topic 'The Panacea Obesity Drug GLP-1 Expands Its Scope to Brain Diseases.' Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

On the 11th, Seulgi Lee, CEO of D&D Pharmatech, stated at the '2024 Good Brain Conference' held at The Plaza Hotel in Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, "At the point when the massive GLP-1 market is beginning to bloom, degenerative brain diseases have as much expansion potential as obesity. The possibilities are growing."

D&D Pharmatech, founded in 2014 by CEO Lee while serving as an associate professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the U.S., is developing NLY01, a GLP-1-based treatment for Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's dementia. Simultaneously, the company is also developing treatments for obesity and metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) within the same drug class. He said, "Although our company is often talked about in relation to obesity, the starting point was brain disease treatments," adding, "We have been playing a leading role through clinical trials."

NLY01 treats degenerative brain diseases through microglia, which act as "cleaners" that remove waste accumulating in the brain. CEO Lee explained, "If the harmful proteins that cause Alzheimer's dementia or Parkinson's disease cause microglia to secrete toxic substances instead of acting as cleaners, they can kill brain cells. NLY01 selectively blocks microglia from being activated in this harmful way." In animal experiments, NLY01 reduced the causative substances of Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's dementia and showed potential to treat symptoms.

However, NLY01 did not improve motor function in a Phase 2 clinical trial conducted on actual Parkinson's disease patients. CEO Lee said, "We were greatly disappointed," but added, "Significant motor function improvement was confirmed in patients under 60 years old." He noted, "Although degenerative brain diseases are often thought to affect the elderly, 37% of clinical trial participants were under 60," and predicted, "It is likely to be effective in patients who have not yet developed significant neuroinflammation in the brain."

CEO Lee emphasized, "Degenerative brain diseases cause patients to live with painful conditions if they develop at a young age. If treatment is possible at the early diagnosis stage, it can improve patients' quality of life." He also mentioned that similar effects were confirmed in studies conducted by other research institutions using different GLP-1 treatments, indicating great potential, and added, "We are planning a Phase 3 clinical trial soon through partnerships with multinational pharmaceutical companies investing in central nervous system (CNS) diseases."