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The Charité Research Organisation GmbH has experience in the conduct of early phase projects for new anti-obesity drugs. We want to share our expertise in this special Whitepaper that comes in three parts. 

Many new drug candidates for obesity and related diseases are on the horizon, which are discussed according to their development phase in these Whitepapers.

In Part 1, new treatment approaches for obesity with or without type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) will be presented and discussed based on current research and applicable guidelines. The management of T2DM patients has much improved since the introduction of GLP1R agonists and sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i). Their use as treatment intensification for T2DM patients with cardiovascular and/or renal disease and/or corresponding risk factor obesity will be described according to national guidelines.

In Part 2, the key drivers in the pathophysiology of non-alcoholic fat liver disease/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NAFLD/NASH) and the recommended diagnostic tools to be used in clinical trials will be discussed. The recently approved THR-ß agonist Resmetirom and other pharmacological approaches for the treatment of NAFLD/NASH with or without obesity will be presented. Most of these are targeting metabolic dysregulation and intrahepatic lipotoxicity or inflammation. Other strategies include modification of genetic risk factors or activation of inflammatory immune cells.

In Part 3, the diverse phenotypes of heart failure (HF) will be discussed with a special focus on the cardiometabolic phenotype HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), in which chronic cardiometabolic stress resulting from T2DM and/or obesity are key drivers of HF pathophysiology. The new treatment options for the cardiometabolic HFpEF population will be described based on the recent focused update of the ESC Guideline in 2023.

Author and Contact:
Claudia Werner, MD, PhD
Charité Research Organisation GmbH
Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin
claudia.werner@charite-research.org