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Print Edition StoriesThursday, January 29, 2009
Zafgen of Cambridge teams with Argenta to fight fat
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Cambridge-based biopharmaceutical company Zafgen Inc. reports it has worked up a deal with U.K.-based Argenta Discovery Ltd. allowing them to co-develop anti-obesity drugs.
The financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Zafgen is developing therapeutics that shrink fat cells. This approach is based on new research that shows that the nature of adipose tissue, or fat cells, is what causes obesity. The fat cells grow or shrink individually, depending on how, metaphorically speaking, “hungry” they are, and not how hungry the person that contains them feels. The cells determine whether an individual has a normal weight or becomes obese. The company therefore believes, by cutting off their blood supply, the fat cells can be shrunk, which can reduce a person’s mass and weight.
Now the company is collaborating with Argenta Discovery, a contract respiratory research and development company, to further its efforts. According to the agreement’s terms, scientists from the companies will use Argenta’s expertise in computer-aided drug design, chemistry and assay development. It is hoped this will accelerate the development of Zafgen’s drug candidate, officials said.
Zafgen was founded in 2005 by Maria Rupnick, a cardiologist at Children’s Hospital Boston and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In November of 2008, Zafgen announced it had pulled in $14 million in a series B funding round.
Obesity affects some 400 million people today, with two-thirds of U.S. adults overweight or obese.
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