AltrixBio was founded in 2019 to further develop their idea of “Surgery in a Pill”, a platform to deliver drugs to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. They teamed up with Doctor’s from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School and MIT who were fascinated by the rapid resolution of Type 2 Diabetes and weight loss that is seen in patients that undergo gastric bypass surgery. This work led to the development of LuCiO, a repurposed pill that adheres to the GI track. In pre-clinical proof-of-concept models, it has been shown to modulate nutrient contact with the bowl mucosa and lower the glucose response. They are currently working on getting a usable formulation of the drug to start “Pre-IND” meetings with the FDA. They hope to start clinical trials by the end of 2020. They have raised $1.5M in fundraising since starting as Nest.Bio Labs.
In the News
Gastric Bypass in a Pill?
"Current medications are not as effective as gastric bypass surgery at treating type 2 diabetes in patients with obesity. Yet, due to cost and other factors, less than 2 percent of U.S. patients who qualify for the surgery opt for it."
Nancy Briefs: AltrixBio: Target Diabetes
"Seasoned entrepreneur Nancy Briefs on her startup’s daring swing at Type 2 diabetes. AltrixBio is creating a pill that simulates the benefit of the best gastric bypass surgery: remission of diabetes in 80 percent of cases. With co-founders Jeff Karp and Ali Tavakoli, she is re-purposing an existing treatment with a great safety profile to address this daunting problem."