Obesity has become a global public health crisis. Nearly 4 in 10 Americans struggle with obesity and are also at risk of chronic and comorbid conditions such as Type 2 diabetes (T2D), cancer, and heart disease. Healthcare professionals, medical researchers and biotechnology firms are racing to find new and innovative ways to battle this health crisis.
One Burlington business is at the forefront of this obesity research and is the focus of today’s Burlington Business Spotlight. Join us in welcoming Fractyl Health to our local business community. Let’s examine the state of the obesity health crisis and how Fractyl Health is making a difference.
Obesity: A National Health Crisis
Obesity: A National Health CrisisAccording to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), obesity has become a national epidemic that impacts two in five adults and nearly one in five children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cites that 42% of American adults are obese with a BMI of 30% or greater. They also state that the obesity rates are not just climbing for adults in our nation (up 30%) but are also increasing in the adolescent and children demographic as well (up 19%).
Obesity can cause insulin resistance and is a major risk factor for a person to develop Type 2 diabetes. Over time and if unregulated, this disease can damage organs and blood vessels causing chronic medical conditions. The CDC’s 2024 statistics on Type 2 diabetes show that 29.7 million adults currently have T2D, 8.7 million are undiagnosed, and 97.6 million Americans over 18 years, have prediabetes.
The Innovative Role of Fractyl Health
It is no surprise to many who live in the innovation capital of Massachusetts, with its first-class medical facilities, top-ranked colleges and universities and biotechnology leaders, that companies in our area would be on the front lines of research for this prevalent disease. Fractyl Health is one such biotechnology company in Burlington, Massachusetts that is focused on this health crisis.
Incorporated in August 2010 in Delaware, Fractyl Health set its headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts at 3 Van de Graaff Drive. The metabolic therapeutics company went public on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange in February 2024 under the ticker name “GUTS.”
Fractyl aims to advance human health and accelerate the transition to a post-obesity society by developing novel, durable therapies that aim to treat the root causes of obesity and T2D.
The Science of Rejuva & Revita
Fractyl is currently developing two investigational therapies that address the root causes of obesity and T2D:
o Revita®, a minimally invasive ablation procedure, which takes ~1 hour in an outpatient setting, resurfaces the lining of the duodenum, the first section of the small intestine that helps to further digest food coming from the stomach.
o Rejuva®, a one-and-done pancreatic gene therapy designed to enable durable production of GLP-1 in the pancreas.
Unlike the current treatment of obesity and T2D, which is through chronic medication, Fractyl’s assets are designed to durably reverse the changes in the body causing obesity and T2D in order to accelerate the transition to a post-obesity society.
These treatments are designed to fulfill the most critical unmet need for patients with obesity and metabolic disease: to prevent and reverse these diseases altogether.
To find out more about these clinical studies and how the science works, visit “Our Clinical Studies” at Fractyl Health.