Response Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for weight management and metabolic health in high-need patient populations.
The company is building its portfolio with an initial focus on helping those taking antipsychotic medications for disabling mental illnesses to combat weight gain and metabolic dysregulation associated with these treatments.
Response Pharmaceuticals, Inc
Patients with schizophrenia have up to 2-fold increase CVD risk and up to 11.5 yrs reduced life expectancy .
[Olfson, JAMA Psychiatry, 2015]
58M US adults suffer from mental illness. 25% of these are debilitated with serious mental illness (SMI)
[NIH 2021]
50-80% of patients rapidly gain a clinically significant (>7%) amount of weight on AAPs
[McEvoy, Am J Psychiatry 2007]
20-50% of patients with SMI may discontinue treatment due to adverse effects leading to poor outcomes.
[de Hert, Schizophrenia Res 2006]
Severe mental illness is associated with 52% prevalence for metabolic syndrome, >2-fold higher than the general population .
[Correll, Psychiatr Serv, 2010]
“Antipsychotic medications are essential, life-saving treatments that help millions of patients live better lives. However, many of these beneficial medications, including the most effective treatments, are associated with significant rapid weight gain and contribute to an alarming and growing mortality gap between people with mental illness and the general population, with schizophrenics and bipolar patients twice as likely to die as a consequence of cardiovascular disease”
Joseph T Coyle, MD PhD, Emeritus Chair of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School.
RDX-002 Mechanism of Action
RDX-002, Response Pharmaceuticals’ lead compound, is an intestinal-specific inhibitor of microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP). Intestinal MTP has a central role in the production of lipoproteins that carry triglycerides and cholesterol (lipids) from dietary sources into the blood stream for delivery to the rest of the body.
By blocking a significant portion of these dietary lipids, RDX-002 can reduce caloric intake from triglycerides and reduce cholesterol absorption, and has been shown in clinical studies to reduce body weight, plasma lipids and hyperglycemia. With this mechanism of action, RDX-002 is being developed as an adjunctive therapy for patients taking atypical antipsychotic therapy as well as a potential treatment in other settings in which clinically significant weight gain and/or adverse metabolic changes are present.