Amgen Unveils Obesity Treatment Animal Data

30 July 1995

Amgen has published preclinical data from its obesity (ob) gene program which suggests that the company could be on the right track to find a treatment for the condition. Tests of a recombinant form of the ob gene product in obese mice have revealed that the protein stimulates a substantial reduction in body weight and body fat, as well as a smaller reduction in body weight in normal lean mice.

Obese diabetic mice which received injections with the ob protein ate less, and their metabolic rate, body temperature and physical activity levels were "normalized" to the levels seen in non-diabetic, normal mice, according to a report in the current issue of Science. In addition, the ob protein normalized serum glucose and insulin levels.

The ob gene was identified by a team led by Jeffrey Friedman, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and head of the laboratory of molecular genetics of the Rockefeller University in New York. In April 1995, Rockefeller granted Amgen an exclusive license which allows Amgen to develop and sell products based on the obesity gene.

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