7TM Pharma A/S added early stage research programs in obesity and Type II diabetes to its pipeline through the acquisition of privately held French firm CareX SA.

Founded in 2001 as a spinout of the Institute of Genetics and of Molecular Biology (IGBMC) in Strasbourg, France, CareX began identifying small molecules for metabolic diseases and created a portfolio that "fit nicely into what we were doing," said Mette Kirstine Agger, CEO of Horsholm, Denmark-based 7TM, which entered the clinic last year with its first product, TM30338, in obesity.

The acquisition "enabled us to broaden our pipeline and gain some additional programs," she added.

Agger would not disclose the terms of the deal, but said it involved the issuance of 7TM shares. In addition to acquiring CareX's programs, 7TM also gained an undisclosed amount of capital from the French company, which will be put toward the development of the CareX compounds.

7TM closed a Series C round in March, raising €19 million (US$22.9 million) to fund clinical work on TM30338 and a second obesity compound, TM30339. Money also will support early stage work on its angiogenesis and inflammation programs.

The company will continue "to move our programs forward in accordance to our plan," Agger told BioWorld Today, and the capital from CareX will "enable us to move the [CareX] programs in parallel."

The lead program from CareX's portfolio, which is in the late stage of lead optimization development, involves the application of CB1 (cannabinoid) receptor antagonists to treat obesity without affecting central nervous system activity. A second program focuses on SGLT (sodium-dependent glucose co-transporter) inhibitors aimed at Type II diabetes.

CareX's programs were relocated to 7TM's headquarters, and the company's operations in Strasbourg were closed down.

"We were interested in the programs, and 7TM has full drug discovery capabilities," Agger said.

The company's in-house pipeline emerged from its Site-Directed Drug Discovery platform, which is aimed at combining medicinal chemistry and peptide expertise to identify drugs that target 7TM (seven transmembrane segment) receptors - also referred to as G protein-coupled receptors.

TM30338 is designed to target both the Y2 and Y4 receptors and to treat obesity by suppressing patients' appetites. In a recently completed Phase I/II trial, patients receiving a once-daily subcutaneous dose of TM30338 showed inhibited food intake at a statistically significant level up to at least nine hours after dosing.

The company expects a Phase II study to start in the fourth quarter.

7TM's next candidate in obesity, TM30339, is a selective Y4 receptor agonist peptide, anticipated to enter the clinic in a Phase I/II trial by the end of the year, Agger said.

Beyond that "we have a number of discovery programs coming up," she said, "and we're looking to select at least one more preclinical candidate in the next one to two years."