AI-Designed Weight Loss Drug Hits Phase III

FEATURE

MindRank Moves an AI-Engineered Weight Loss Drug Into Phase III Trials

We’ve heard plenty about AI helping early drug discovery. Far fewer examples show what happens after. This week, MindRank with its AI-designed obesity drug, MDR-001, has entered Phase III testing just 4.5 years after discovery.

That speed alone is impressive, but the details behind the drug matter more.

What makes MDR-001 different: MDR-001 is an oral small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist, designed using MindRank’s Molecule Pro AI platform.

Most GLP-1 drugs on the market are injectable peptides. Oral versions have been hard to make, and tolerability has often limited uptake.

MDR-001 takes a different approach. It uses a biased-selective mechanism, meaning it activates the GLP-1 receptor in a more targeted way. In addition to triggering the usual cAMP signaling tied to appetite control, it selectively recruits beta-arrestin-2, a pathway linked to metabolic benefits without some of the unwanted effects seen with broader activation.

In Phase IIb testing, 317 participants achieved a mean weight loss of 10.3 percent at 24 weeks. 

The safety profile is also something to note. Only 0.8 percent discontinued due to treatment-emergent adverse events, and no drug-related serious adverse events were reported. Heart rate increases, a common concern with GLP-1 therapies, were not observed.

The trial also showed benefits beyond weight loss, including reductions in uric acid and improvements in liver function markers, blood pressure, lipids, and glycemic measures.

What Phase III will test: The Phase III MOBILE trial will enroll about 750 participants with overweight or obesity in China and follow them for 52 weeks. The goal is straightforward: confirm long-term efficacy and safety at scale.

Just to note…their press release states that MDR-001 is “one of the first AI-designed molecules to reach Phase III clinical trial”, however, from our own database, there are at least two others to consider that also reached Phase III (Zasocitinib, from Takeda and GB-0895, from Generate:Biomedicines).

For more details: Full Article 

Brain Booster

Select the right answer! (See explanation below and source)

What Caught My Eye

PRESCRIPTION

Utah Becomes the First State to Let AI Handle Prescription Renewals

Utah just crossed a line most regulators have only debated. This week, the state announced a first-of-its-kind partnership allowing an autonomous AI system to participate in prescription renewals for chronic conditions, under formal state oversight.

Through Utah’s regulatory sandbox, Doctronic will test an AI platform that can handle routine medication refills without waiting for a traditional clinician visit.

The focus is chronic medications with low-risk renewals. But the implications are large.

Prescription renewals account for roughly 80 percent of all medication activity, and delays are a major driver of noncompliance, hospital visits, and avoidable costs.

State officials will evaluate safety protocols, patient experience, adherence, and real-world outcomes. Clinicians remain accountable, and pharmacists stay in the loop, but the administrative bottleneck shifts from people to AI.

Utah estimates medication noncompliance drives over $100 billion in preventable healthcare spending each year.

Other states are watching closely. Arizona and Texas have launched similar AI sandboxes, and Wyoming is preparing one. What makes Utah different is scope. This is not AI assisting clinicians. It is AI acting, within rules, in a regulated clinical workflow.

If it works, this becomes a model for how high-stakes healthcare AI might actually enter practice.

For more details: Full Article

Top Funded Startups

Byte-Sized Break

📢 Other Happenings in Healthcare AI

• Insilico Medicine signed a multi-year AI-driven oncology drug discovery deal with Servier worth up to $888M, including $32M in upfront and near-term R&D payments, with Servier leading clinical and commercial development of resulting candidates. [Link]

• The FDA announced it will limit regulation of health and fitness wearables and wellness apps, clarifying that low-risk tools not making disease-related claims will remain exempt from strict medical device oversight. [Link]

• OpenAI launched ChatGPT Health, a new tab enabling users to ask health questions, upload medical records, and connect wellness apps, with enhanced privacy and no data used for model training. [Link]

Have a Great Weekend!

Trivia Answer: B) Digestive system

GLP‑1 receptor agonists (like Ozempic, Wegovy, semaglutide, etc.) mimic the naturally occurring GLP‑1 hormone, which slows gastric emptying (delays how quickly food leaves the stomach) and increases feelings of fullness, helping reduce appetite and food intake, primarily through effects on the digestive system. These actions are part of how these drugs support weight loss in addition to regulating blood sugar. [Source]