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A Novel “Hassle-Free” Long-Term Drug Delivery System
Our proprietary NanoPortal™ technology reimagines drug delivery. Imagine only having to give your pet medicine twice-a-year.
OKV-119, roughly the size of commonly used tracking chips, is a state-of-the art “hassle free” drug delivery system. Easily inserted during routine clinic visits, each OKV-119 implant is designed to safely delivery exenatide for a 6-month duration.
This drug delivery system is composed of biocompatible materials commonly found in FDA approved products. Tunable drug release rates are achieved without any moving parts or electronics.
The technology benefits are well suited for pet owners (and feline patients):
Cats are notoriously difficult to treat. With OKV-119, veterinarians and pet owners are assured that cats receive their prescribed treatment, thus maximizing the chance for positive outcomes.
Consistent drug delivery rates eliminate drug concentrations spikes and valleys commonly experienced with most drugs. Smoother drug concentrations will result in a reduction of side effects (avoid spikes) and enhance efficacy (avoid valleys).
Pet parents can be confident that their pets will receive medication for many months and minimize the need for frequent visits to the veterinary clinic.
Unlike long-acting injectable formulations which are not reversible, this long-acting delivery systems is fully reversibility. The implant can be easily should a pet experience an unexpected drug-related adverse event which requires immediate treatment interruption.
Eliminates the need for pet owners to purchase expensive human medicines. It also avoids the need for frequent veterinary visits and commonly associated expenses with insulin therapy used to treat diabetic cats (e.g., syringes, blood sugar te
Indoor, inactive, and overfed. The confluence of these factors has resulted in crisis of epidemic proportions. With over 20% of cats in the US and Europe classified as clinically obese, obesity is currently one of the greatest health and welfare problems facing domestic cats.
Feline obesity, formally classified as a disease, is a major health concern. Obesity in cats is associated with numerous comorbidities including diabetes, osteoarthritis, impaired respiratory function, and certain types of neoplasia.
GLP-1RAs are known to beneficially reduce body weight in non-diabetic obese people, without causing hypoglycemia or other serious adverse events (AEs). Weight-reducing effects are partly attributed to GLP-1 inhibitory effects on gastric emptying, postprandial glucagon release, and stimulation of hypothalamic satiety centers.
Emerging data show that GLP-1RAs administered to cats also result in beneficial weight loss. OKV-119 administered to non-diabetic, overweight cats is being developed to treat obesity and prevent, or delay, the onset of diabetes and other untoward health outcomes.
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), an important incretin hormone that is secreted from the intestines during a meal and participates in the regulation of systemic metabolism, food intake, gastrointestinal motility, and more. GLP-1 exerts its main regulatory effect by stimulating glucose-dependent insulin secretion from pancreatic islet.
GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are now a cornerstone treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) in human medicine, with exenatide being the first-in-class GLP-1RA to be approved. Available data in cats demonstrate that GLP-1RAs generally have similar effects to those seen in human patients and should be useful in treating feline DM.
In human medicine, nonadherence to antidiabetic medications is common and results in poor long-term glycemic control and the development of diabetic complications. Medication non-adherence and non-persistence, or discontinuation, have been shown to be particularly common among those taking injectable antidiabetic medications. A research survey evaluating injectable insulin has shown that human patients consider injections to be a serious burden and have a negative impact on quality of life.
The well documented adherence and persistence problems noted in human patients are magnified in people giving injectable antidiabetic medications to cats. Cats are commonly under-medicated because of the physical and emotional challenges of performing repeated injections in cats.
The benefits of a “hassle-free” long-term drug delivery system that accounts for real-world constraints and limits pet owner responsibilities will help to improve long-term outcomes in feline patients.
OKV-119: Targeting one of the largest (underdeveloped) therapeutic areas in cats
Pet obesity is an epidemic. While often adorable, obese cats face significant health issues such as joint pain, and increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.
The healthcare challenges of feline obesity (and diabetes) will only increase as the sheer number of indoor cats continues to increase.
Our core technology reimagines drug delivery for cats. OKV-119 is not only on track to become the first FDA weight loss agent approved for cats, it holds the potential to revolutionize the treatment of feline diabetes.
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