Taiwan-based startup Merdury Biopharmaceutical Corporation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Health2Sync, Asia's largest chronic disease management platform. In this collaboration, the two parties aim to enhance the clinical evidence supporting the superior pharmacokinetic profile of oral semaglutide when delivered by Merdury's StackDose technology.

As a Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist, semaglutide has demonstrated remarkable efficacy in treating diabetes and obesity. Its exceptional weight reduction capabilities led to US FDA approval for weight management in the US in 2021, and it is rapidly gaining popularity in the US and around the world.

In the pre-clinical trials, Merdury saw encouraging results that the innovative formulation, which uses its StackDose technology platform, significantly enhances semaglutide's absorption and bioavailability, leading to prolonged blood concentration and extended duration of action compared to existing oral semaglutide formulations on the market.

With the ambition of bringing more effective treatments worldwide, Merdury has filed patent applications for its technology in multiple countries.

Compared to existing options, Merdury's oral tablets increases the total drug concentration in the blood by 1.5 times (AUC_0-∞) and reduces the time to peak blood concentration (T_max) by 43%. This translates to potentially faster efficacy for patients. To further validate these promising results, Taiwan-based Health2Sync will leverage its cloud-based care platform and patient app to integrate users' continuous glucose monitoring data for the next phase of clinical trials. 

This partnership aims to demonstrate the highest levels of quality and efficacy in the clinical trial results of StackDose, producing the evidence needed for licensing discussions with pharmaceutical companies with oral GLP-1 drugs in their portfolios.