New melanocortin medicines target obesity and restrictive eating disorders and are synergistic with GLP-1s

University of Michigan spinout company Courage Therapeutics, which is developing medications for eating disorders and obesity, has received a seed investment of up to $7.8 million from Arsenal Bridge Ventures.

The investment will enable Courage Therapeutics to complete essential testing and development to advance its drug candidates to clinical trials. The company’s two drug-development programs aim to address obesity and restrictive eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and cachexia, by targeting neural circuits in the brain known as the central melanocortin system.

Roger Cone, U-M professor of molecular and integrative physiology, has been at the forefront of melanocortin research for more than three decades. His research group discovered the substantial role that two of these proteins—the melanocortin 3 receptor and melanocortin 4 receptor (MC3R and MC4R)—play in regulating energy balance and food intake.

With support from U-M’s Innovation Partnerships, Cone and founding CEO Dan Housman established Courage Therapeutics in 2019 to translate Cone’s research into viable treatments. Working with medicinal chemist Tomi Sawyer, the team has developed promising drug candidates for genetic obesity syndromes.

Unlike traditional weight-loss drugs that mimic gut hormones, Courage Therapeutics’ approach involves direct action on melanocortin circuits within the hypothalamus, a system known to influence feeding behaviors and weight management. This strategy not only targets dietary obesity and genetic obesity syndromes for which GLP-1 drugs are not label-approved, but also may enhance the effects of existing GLP-1 drugs for treating dietary obesity.

“With this approach, we have been able to rapidly develop compounds that are even more potent and selective than current market offerings, in terms of their ability to inhibit food intake in mammals,” said Cone, who also serves as the Mary Sue Coleman Director of the U-M Life Sciences Institute. “Our partnership with Arsenal Bridge Ventures is crucial as we now prepare to move these compounds into patient clinical trials later this year.”

Arsenal Bridge Ventures Managing Director Isaac Barchas emphasized the firm’s strategic focus on harnessing cutting-edge science from Midwest research institutions.

“With Cone’s decades of research at its foundation, Courage Therapeutics has built a rigorous portfolio and has quickly proven its capability to address critical medical needs beyond obesity, including other prevalent weight regulation disorders,” Barchas said.

Housman expressed optimism about the partnership with Arsenal Bridge Ventures, highlighting its alignment with Courage Therapeutics’ founding mission to develop the first FDA-approved treatment for anorexia nervosa and address other underrepresented eating disorders.

“Arsenal Bridge Ventures not only brings essential funding but also shares our vision for building a business to address broad-spectrum disease management,” Housman said.

“Together, we can have a profound impact on treating obesity as well as restrictive eating disorders that have historically received limited attention, despite their enormous impact on patients and families such as mine.”