Onconic Therapeutics targets muscle-loss gap with combination obesity drug

Onconic Therapeutics plans to develop its obesity drug candidate OCN-501 as a combination therapy alongside existing obesity treatments, targeting the market for addressing side effects such as muscle loss that occur during obesity treatment.

According to the company Monday, it plans to present the research direction through an oral presentation at ObesityWeek, hosted by The Obesity Society in November.

OCN-501, Onconic's next-generation drug candidate, is considered a first-in-class candidate that targets a new treatment area through combination use with GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide) obesity therapies.

The development strategy for OCN-501 centers on pairing it with GLP-1 treatments, which have already demonstrated strong weight-loss efficacy and established a massive market. The company said the drug aims to address unmet needs that arise during the treatment process by targeting a new therapeutic area.

With the emergence of GLP-1 therapies, obesity drug development has moved beyond simple weight reduction — the new challenge is determining what to reduce and what to preserve during the process. Studies have reported that GLP-1 treatments can lead to decreases not only in fat mass but also in lean body mass and muscle mass.

Skeletal muscle plays a critical role not only in maintaining strength and physical function but also in energy metabolism. As a result, combination therapy strategies aimed at preserving skeletal muscle and improving body composition — while building on the strong weight-loss effects of GLP-1 — are emerging as a new frontier.

Eli Lilly, the developer of Mounjaro, has also explicitly listed "GLP-1 and incretin combinations" and "body composition improvements including lean mass preservation and increase" as areas of business development interest in obesity and metabolic disease.

Onconic has been selected for a Late-Breaking Abstract session in the official program of next month's ObesityWeek conference, where it will deliver an oral presentation detailing its research methods and findings.