Scholar Rock announces new preclinical SRK-439 data at ObesityWeek

Scholar Rock (SRRK) announced new preclinical data that support the potential of SRK-439, a highly selective investigational antimyostatin antibody, to increase lean mass and lower fat mass gain when taken with metformin. These data will be presented at the ObesityWeek conference in San Antonio, Texas on November 5. The research study tested a murine equivalent of SRK-439 in a diet-induced obesity, or DIO, mouse model. All mice were given a high-fat diet, followed by either metformin or control for four weeks. Following that four-week period, mice in metformin and control groups were given either an IgG control antibody or SRK-439 for another four weeks. To assess whether effects were persistent across age ranges, this study design was repeated in two age groups: both young and mature DIO mice. Quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance was used to analyze change in lean mass at baseline, after four weeks of metformin treatment, and every two weeks following treatment with SRK-439 or IgG control. The group that received SRK-439 on the background of metformin showed a significant increase in lean mass versus the group receiving metformin alone, and this result was consistent across age groups. Key findings supporting the potential for SRK-439 in advancing healthier weight management include: Young animals treated with SRK-439 and metformin demonstrated a 2-fold increase in lean mass over the duration of the study compared to the lean mass increase in the metformin group and in IgG controls. In older metformin-treated animals, the increase in lean mass in the SRK-439 treated animals compared to IgG controls was 50-fold, owing primarily to the limited lean mass growth in the IgG control group over the duration of the study due to the age of the animals. In young mice, the combination treatment of SRK-439 and metformin also resulted in lower fat mass gain than metformin alone. In older mice, SRK-439 showed a trend toward reduced fat mass gain when combined with metformin, as compared to metformin alone.