Versanis

Overview

We can imagine a healthier future for people living with obesity. We’re closer than ever before.

Combining Versanis’ deep understanding of activin biology with Lilly’s expertise in incretin biology, our goal is to develop transformative treatments that empower people living with obesity and cardiometabolic diseases to achieve improved health.

Our Science

Our unique approach begins with the mechanisms that regulate fat and muscle metabolism.

Muscle and fat are the body’s only organs that can dynamically change in size, with growth and reduction affected by the combination of nutrient intake, exercise, growth factors and activin signaling.

Genetic studies suggest the activin pathway in the body plays a role in obesity. Versanis is the first company to tackle obesity by targeting activin type II receptors (ActRII), the activin receptors found in both fat and muscle cells.

The body’s cells communicate with each other and the environment by sending and receiving hormones and other molecules through a process called signaling. Activin signaling via ActRII receptors directly promotes lipid storage, a key driver of visceral fat accumulation and obesity. It also inhibits muscle growth and promotes muscle atrophy.

Our research aims to block activin signaling, potentially inhibiting this atrophy and promoting increases in muscle mass – which could help people living with obesity improve body composition and metabolism while losing fat.

In cardiac muscle, activin signaling has a direct mechanism in promoting contractile protein degradation. Activin signaling is elevated in people with heart failure and is correlated with disease severity. Blocking activin signaling has the potential to reverse this damage to the heart.

Learn more about our approach to treating obesity: https://www.lilly.com/disease-areas/obesity

Specific Information for Clinical Trial Participants

Click here if you are a participant in a Versanis Clinical Trial.