About

Obesity and diabetes constitute major health problems worldwide. Obesity affects over 1 billion people worldwide, with1 in 3 Americans being obese and many more overweight, and is the main driver of life threatening conditions such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Diabetes in turn, is a leading cause of disability and death, and a major socioeconomic health burden reaching pandemic dimensions in our times. Despite the magnitide of the problem, anti-obesity treatments including medical traetments and weight-loss surgery are poorly effective, while both are associated with significant and often serious adverse effects. Similarly, anti-diabetic treatments delay but do not halt the progression of the disease, with a large proportion of patients eventually developing insulin dependence and diabetic complications leading to increased morbidity and mortality. There is therefore an urgent need for novel more effective therapeutics for single or combination therapy.

Solution & Product

All current drug options for the treatment of obesity and diabetes are targeting mechanisms that regulate appetite, digestion, lipogenesis or metabolism including the release or removal of glucose, or the secretion of insulin and glucagon. Yet, none of these treatments targets adipose tissue inflammation, the common and main culprit that drives the trajectory of obesity, insulin-resistance and diabetes. Lamda Therapeutics is developing novel engineered biologicals of optimized pharmacology and efficacy as an innovative approach for modulating adipose tissue inflammation and treating obesity and diabetes. It is also developing AI tools for better defining patients that would mostly benefit of this new treatment. This stems from years of research from the founders identifying a central pathway regulatingimmune system homeostasis at the adipose tissue which, when triggered prevents obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

Innovation & Scalability

The potential of the company for investment returns and commercial success is enormous as this targets a major disease area in urgent need of novel therapeutic approaches, and a multi-billion dollar market estimated at >70 billion USD expanding. However, there are multiple and major barriers to the company’s growth potential. First, there is significant financial capital needed early on, as proper development of the products pipeline with optimal biological, pharmacological and regulatory properties is essential. This is a continuous process and requires additional injections of capital as the company grows and moves towards scaling up and clinical development. Second, there is significant investment in human capital needed with unique expertise in biology, medicine and biotech business development. Additional risks in project execution, the regulatory process, scientific technical attrition and investor patience fill up the list of barriers towards the growth potential of the company.

Traction & achievements

The idea got selected among hundreds of applications (with top score) to join the Egg Eurobank business accelerator in mid-2019. The idea was put in place, a first plan was set and the company founded in 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Costs were covered initially by the Founders' own money. Subsequently, the company got its first funding in the form of a competitive EU grant. The company started the design, engineering and development of the first compounds. Costs were again covered by the Founders' own money. First lead compounds produced at 0.5 mg scale for further testing generated (March 2021). Additional compounds are under development. In discussions for licensing-in relevant patents from academic institutions.

Team & Why Us

E. Andreakos is Research Director at the Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens (BRFAA) and Visiting Professor at St Mary’s Hospital, Imperial College London. He has >110 publications and >9M competitive grants and pharma funding as P.I. He has spent 8 years with Prof. Sir Marc Feldmann, the discoverer of the anti-TNF therapy (Humira, Enbrel etc) making USD 35 billion sales annually. He is a leading expert in cytokine biology and immunology. G. Kaltsas is Professor of General Medicine &Endocrinology at the University of Athens Medical School and Visiting Professor at Warick University. He is a world-leading endocrinologist with >300 publications and 20.000 citations, and a regular advisor to the pharma. He is at the Executive Committee of the International Society of Endocrinology (with >40.000 endocrinologists worldwide). M. Salagianni is Senior Researcher at BRFAA. She is an immunologist with unique know-how in research in obesity, diabetes and cardiometabolic diseases.

Funding Needs

Funding needs are currently estimated at 3-5 million Eur over the next three years.