Sweden’s Sigrid Therapeutics has signed an agreement with the Japanese company AGC Si-Tech to develop its concept for preventing diabetes and obesity. Meanwhile, the company’s CEO, Sana Alajmovic, has both been named one of the Female Leaders of the Future and won the Life Science category of the Nova 111 list.
The company says diabetes type 2 and obesity, could be prevented by its SiPore15 concept, where tailor-made silicon dioxide particles ingested with food will reduce the uptake of carbohydrates and fats in the gut. The product targets people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, prediabetics, and recently diagnosed type 2 diabetics.
The production agreement with Japan’s AGC Si-Tech secures access to industrial scale production of SiPore15.
“Discussions with AGC have been underway for years, and we’re very satisfied that we’ve now landed an agreement and managed to scale up manufacturing of SiPore15”, says the company’s CEO, Sana Alajmovic.
Japan’s AGC has expertise in complex silicone production, and a leading position within the glass, electronics, chemical, and ceramics industries.
While there are no approved treatment options for prediabetes, the diabetes prevention market is reportedly expected to triple during the next six years to $1.8 bn in US, UK, Spain, Italy, Germany and France. Similar growth is expected in the obesity market, which today is worth $6.1 bn.
Sigrid has a clinical study in the EU with 400 prediabetics and type 2 diabetics underway, the results of which will form the basis for a CE-mark application in Europe. “With large-scale production in place, we’ll also speed up the dialogue for launching the product in the U.S. as a dietary supplement, by ourselves or through a partner,” said Ajamovic.
