Portrait of a funny beautiful red fluffy cat with green eyes in the interior, pets
Okava Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage company developing medicines for cats and dogs, announced a new clinical trial testing a GLP-1 implant for cats on Tuesday. The trial is appropriately named MEOW-1 (ManagEment of Over Weight cats).
OKV-119 is Okava’s long-release GLP-1 implant, designed to slowly release the drug over six months. The implant is from Vivani Medical’s NanoPortal technology platform.
Diabetic cats – more common than you might think
Approximately 61% of cats are classified as overweight, according to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention. The Merck Veterinary Manual estimates that one in every 100 cats will develop diabetes. Typically, diabetic pets receive insulin injections twice a day; an implant could make treating diabetes in pets much easier.
MEOW-1 is the first clinical trial to test a GLP-1 drug in cats, Okava said. If the results are positive, Okava plans to start a larger clinical trial next summer and apply for FDA approval within the next 18 to 24 months, Michael Klotsman, CEO of Okava, told the New York Times. It is being conducted under an FDA-CVM Investigational New Animal Drug (INAD) application.
“OKV-119 is designed to mimic many of the physiological effects of fasting — improved insulin sensitivity, reduced fat mass, and more efficient energy metabolism — without requiring significant changes in feeding routines or disrupting the human–animal bond that often centers around food,” said Klotsman.
“OKV-119 has the potential to become the most impactful life-extending therapy available for cats,” the company stated.
In a small proof-of-concept study, OKV-119 was correlated with weight loss and had no implant site reactions.
Okava is not alone
Okava is not the only company jumping on the GLP-1 trend for pets. Akston also recently announced a clinical trial testing the drug on at least 70 cats at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Akston’s cat GLP-1 is a weekly injection. The company is also looking at GLP-1s for dogs.
Filed Under: Metabolic disease/endicrinology
