MetaVia Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on cardiometabolic diseases, has announced a research collaboration with Syntekabio, Inc., an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery company, to identify additional disease targets and optimise the therapeutic profile of DA-1241, MetaVia’s novel oral G-protein-coupled receptor 119 (GPR119) agonist.
The collaboration follows positive results from MetaVia’s 16-week, 109-subject phase 2a study of DA-1241, which demonstrated a favourable safety and tolerability profile alongside both hepatoprotective and glucose-regulating effects in presumed metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) patients.
“The strong safety and tolerability profile shown in our phase 2a data gives us confidence in DA-1241’s broader therapeutic potential,” said Hyung Heon Kim, president and CEO of MetaVia.
“Building on this clinical foundation, we are collaborating with Syntekabio to strategically expand the potential value of DA-1241. Specifically, we will leverage their proprietary DeepMatcher compound-protein interaction (CPI) AI prediction platform to conduct large-scale virtual screening against more than 1,700 validated protein targets to uncover new, high-potential indications while ensuring specificity and minimizing the risk of off-target effects.
“This data-driven approach will allow us to accelerate discovery and maximise the value of DA-1241. We believe this unique oral, well-tolerated candidate has the potential to address a range of unmet needs, and we look forward to initial insights from the collaboration later this year.”
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