New life sciences company takes aim at obesity, toxic effects of overnutrition
MONTREAL, July 6, 2021 /CNW/ - A new made-in-Canada life sciences company, Nimium Therapeutics, has been launched to develop novel therapies for patients with cardiometabolic diseases.
The company's foundational technology is based on the cutting-edge research of the laboratory of Dr. Marc Prentki, the Canada Research Chair in Diabetes and Metabolism, Director of the Montreal Diabetes Research Center, and Principal Scientist at the Centre de recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM). Dr. Prentki is an internationally renowned expert in obesity and diabetes whose research team has discovered that an enzyme, glycerol-3-phosphate phosphatase (G3PP), plays a key role in sugar, fat and energy metabolism.
This research was further advanced by adMare BioInnovations, Canada's global life sciences venture, which identified multiple series of hits that activate the human G3PP enzyme. NIMIUM founders obtained the IP rights to the hits from adMare, and are now developing them for multiple cardiometabolic diseases.
NIMIUM is led by life sciences veteran, Dr. Philippe Walker, who has held numerous executive-level R&D roles with AstraZeneca, and was the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of the NEOMED Institute. He commented, "We are excited to launch this new venture based on the world-leading research of Dr. Prentki and his team. From obesity to type 2 diabetes, and other diseases such as chronic kidney disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, there is a global epidemic related to the toxic effects of overnutrition. Through NIMIUM, we aim to address this health crisis by developing a new therapeutic approach that will reduce the effects of excess caloric intake, and that should promote healthy aging."
Gordon C. McCauley, President and CEO of adMare added, "At adMare, our job is to build Canada's national life sciences industry by building new companies. NIMIUM is an excellent example of how we're successfully doing that – proactively identifying research at leading Canadian academic research institutions, and advancing it to the point it can form a solid foundation for a new life-sciences company. We are extremely pleased to be supporting the research of Dr. Prentki and the launch of NIMIUM; and look forward to seeing the impact the company is sure to have on Canada's life sciences ecosystem, and on the lives of patients worldwide.
ABOUT NIMIUM THERAPEUTICS
NIMIUM Therapeutics is a Montreal biotech focused on the development of an innovative therapeutic to treat cardiometabolic diseases. The research is based on glycerol-3-phosphate phosphatase (G3PP), an enzyme found to play a central role in glucose, lipid, and energy metabolism. NIMIUM has partnerships with adMare BioInnovations, a Canadian organization that offers expertise, infrastructure, and capital to help build life-sciences companies. NIMIUM has received funding from Investissement Quebec. For more information, visit www.nimium.ca
ABOUT ADMARE BIOINNOVATIONS
adMare BioInnovations is Canada's Global Life Sciences Venture, building the Canadian life sciences industry from sea to sea. We do this by sourcing therapeutically and commercially promising research from leading academic and biotech partners to create new companies of scale, providing specialized expertise and infrastructure to help existing companies scale up, and driving the growth of those companies into Canadian anchors by training the next generation of highly-qualified personnel. Our 20+ portfolio companies have attracted more than $1.2B of investment, and have a combined value of over $3B. For more information, visit www.admarebio.com
SOURCE adMare BioInnovations