Our inception was driven by a singular goal:

…to advance the treatment of obesity and related metabolic diseases by capitalizing on the untapped potential of brown fat to increase energy expenditure and deliver metabolic benefits.

Adipo’s goal is to support healthy weight loss by increasing energy expenditure through the unique benefits of brown fat, as an orthogonal approach to lower calorie intake. This healthy weight loss can bring meaningful change for millions of people around the world seeking to manage their weight beyond dieting alone.

A Unique Vision for Metabolic Health

Meng Deng, PhD, Adipo’s founder and a visionary in the realm of bioengineered drug delivery, laid the foundation for Adipo at the world-renowned Purdue University. Through his expertise and pioneering research, Dr. Deng developed the core technology that would become the foundation of Adipo Therapeutics—Notch-inhibiting nanoparticles capable of converting the body's energy-storing white fat into energy-burning brown fat. This breakthrough approach has the potential to promise not just weight loss but improved blood glucose and lipid control, all without altering calorie intake.

Photo of Karen Wurster, Dr. Deng Meng and Roger Miller

Unparalleled Experience

Our strength lies in our team—a group of unparalleled drug development experts, bringing an average of 27 years of experience in the industry. This world-class team provides the technical expertise and innovative insight necessary to advance our technology towards its first human clinical proof, setting new precedents in the treatment of obesity and related metabolic conditions.

Leadership Team

Karen Wurster, MBA

CEO

Karen Wurster, MBA is the CEO of Adipo Therapeutic. Ms. Wurster has over 25 years of leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry, where she dedicated her career to the development and launch of treatments for diabetes, launching more than 10 diabetes products and leading in areas including New Product Planning, Life Cycle Management, Global Brand Management, and US Commercialization. Karen is a proven transformative leader with demonstrated strength in recruiting, developing, and engaging teams to deliver strong results on a shared vision of success.Karen most recently worked as a strategic pharmaceutical marketing consultant, providing her expertise to companies developing and launching new products in diabetes and obesity. Her responsibilities at Adipo focus on developing a clear path to commercialization for the technology and cultivating potential collaborators and acquisition partners. Karen has a BS in biochemistry from Indiana University, and an MBA in finance from the IU Kelley School of Business.

Karen Wurster, MBA

CEO
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Meng Deng,
PhD

Founder

Meng Deng, PhD is the Founder of Adipo Therapeutics. The breakthrough technology of Adipo Therapeutics stems from his strong commitment and 15+ years of experiences on development of biomaterials-based translational technologies for cell engineering, tissue engineering, and drug delivery. Dr Deng is an Associate Professor of Biological Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Materials Engineering at Purdue University. Dr. Deng received a B.E. in Chemical Engineering in 2004 from Tsinghua University, China, a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2010, and conducted his postdoctoral research at the University of Connecticut Health Center and MIT. He was the recipient of Young Scientist Award from the 9th World Biomaterials Congress. His research is based on the convergence of materials science, micro/nano-scale engineering, and cell biology/medicine to develop cell-instructive biomaterials for cell engineering and musculoskeletal regenerative engineering. He serves as associate editor for Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology and on the editorial board of Regenerative Engineering and Translational Medicine.

Meng Deng,
PhD

Founder
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Keith Johns, MS, MBA

Chief Operating Officer

Keith brings extensive experience, industry relationships, and a passion for developing and launching blockbuster obesity and type 2 diabetes treatments. Keith has over 30 years of pharmaceutical industry and consulting experience, recently retiring from Eli Lilly as Senior Vice President of global marketing and alliance management, in Lilly’s diabetes and obesity business unit. Keith was key in the development and launch of Lilly’s leading treatments for type 2 diabetes, obesity and related metabolic disorders including tirzepatide (Mounjaro) and dulaglutide (Trulicity) which is Lilly’s biggest selling drug in its 147-year history. Keith’s responsibilities at Lilly also included New Product Planning, where he drove the strategy and decisions for investments and acquisitions in the emerging diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular pipeline, and the operational management of Lilly’s largest alliance with Boehringer-Ingelheim for Jardiance, Tradjenta, and Basaglar.

Keith earned a BS in geology from Allegheny College, a MS in hydrogeology from the University of South Carolina, and an MBA in general management and marketing from the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler School of Business.

Keith Johns, MS, MBA

Chief Operating Officer
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Sumitra Ghate

Vice President of Product Development and Global Regulatory Affairs

Sumitra Ghate is the Vice President of Product Development and Global Regulatory Affairs at Adipo, bringing nearly 30 years of experience in drug development across both large pharma and emerging biotech firms. Sumitra spent almost two decades at Eli Lilly and Company, in areas of Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) and Regulatory Affairs, and many of those years were spent in advancing diabetes therapies. Notably, she played a pivotal regulatory lead role in the development and submission of the market application for Trulicity (GLP-1 analog), as well as leading submissions across the insulins portfolio. Sumitra has also held senior leadership positions in the regenerative medicine sector, including serving as Head of Regulatory Affairs at Histogenics, Inc., and as Senior Vice President of Global Product Development and Regulatory Affairs at iTolerance, Inc. prior to joining Adipo.

Sumitra Ghate

Vice President of Product Development and Global Regulatory Affairs
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Marco Verwijs, PhD

Chief Technical Officer

Marco Verwijs, PhD is the Chief Technical Officer for Adipo and has over 18 years of product development and manufacturing experience. He has a passion for bringing meaningful drugs to patients and has worked on multiple commercial products, leading them from clinical product development through NDA filing and commercial launch. He joins Adipo from Aerovate Therapeutics, where he was the Chief Technical Officer responsible for developing and manufacturing its drug-device combination product for pulmonary delivery. Prior to Aerovate, he worked at Vertex, where he helped develop Kalydeco and Orkambi, both oral CF drugs; Flexion Therapeutics, where he helped develop and launch Zilretta, a controlled-release parenteral drug; and Epizyme, where he helped develop and launch Tazverik, an oral oncology drug. Marco earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Florida and his MS in Chemical Engineering from the Delft University of Technology (Netherlands).

Marco Verwijs, PhD

Chief Technical Officer
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Tom Gabbert

Fractional CFO

Tom Gabbert has been a pioneer and thought leader in the outsourced accounting industry since 2003. He was the Founder and Managing Director of mACCOUNTING, LLC, VP of Operations for inDinero following the acquisition of mACCOUNTING, and most recently is the Founder and CEO of Milestone Business Solutions, Inc. Tom understands the unique challenges of starting, growing, and exiting a business. Not only has he done it twice himself, but he has guided numerous clients over the years through successful exits. Along the way, Tom has also helped his clients raise over $250M in growth capital (seed, Series A, Series B). He has a unique background that combines extensive financial and operational experience with a proven track record of client success. Tom is a Certified Public Accountant and holds an undergraduate degree in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame.

Tom Gabbert

Fractional CFO
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Key Scientific Advisors

Robert Considine, PhD

Scientific Advisor and Researcher

Dr. Considine has dedicated his career to basic research centered on understanding of obesity, diabetes, and metabolism. He has been a Professor of the Indiana University (IU) School of Medicine for over 10 years and was an Associate Professor at IU for 15 years. In addition to his responsibilities at the IU School of Medicine, Dr. Considine is also the Administrative Director of the Diabetes Center at the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute which is an independent institute for applied scientific research enabling industry and academic research partners to collaborate on projects and sponsor research to improve human health and nutrition. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware and his PhD in Physiology from Thomas Jefferson University in 1990. Dr. Considine currently consults with Adipo Therapeutics and is the lead researcher for the adult human tissues ex-vivo studies using ADPO-002NP.

Robert Considine, PhD

Scientific Advisor and Researcher
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Frank Greenway, MD

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Greenway is the Medical Director and Professor at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Pennington Biomedical Research Center’s vision is to lead the world in promoting metabolic health and eliminating metabolic disease through scientific discoveries that create solutions from cells to society. Prior to joining Pennington, Dr. Greenway had a successful Internal Medicine practice for 20 years focused on endocrinology, metabolism and clinical research. He obtained his MD from UCLA School of Medicine. He has published extensively on obesity and nutrition, and serves as an advisor and collaborator with Adipo Therapeutics.

Frank Greenway, MD

Scientific Advisor
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Mark Heiman, PhD, FTOS

Scientific Advisor

Over 20+ years at Eli Lilly & Co where he served as researcher and Chief Scientific Officer of Obesity Drug Discovery. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Mark is a Fellow of the Obesity Society and has served on the SAB of Helmholtz Alliance for Imaging and Curing Environmental Metabolic Diseases (ICEMED) in Munich, Germany. He has served on the editorial boards of Endocrinology, Molecular Metabolism, and J of Hepatology & Gastroenterology.

Dr. Heiman received his PhD in Physiology from Louisiana State University School of Medicine. His postdoctoral training in neuroendocrinology was at the Indiana University School of Medicine. He joined the faculty of Medicine at Tulane University where he co-discovered the drug Lanreotide before joining Lilly. Mark has authored over 100 scientific papers and is best known for his seminal work performed at Lilly, which defined the key roles for both leptin and ghrelin in regulating energy balance.

Mark Heiman, PhD, FTOS

Scientific Advisor
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Matt Sheetz, MD PhD

Senior Medical Advisor

Dr. Sheetz received his MD and PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Chicago, and he did post-doctorate research at Washington University in St. Louis in Immunology. He spent 27 years in the pharmaceutical industry where he was involved in every aspect of research from early discovery through Phase IV clinical trials. While at Eli Lilly& Company, Dr. Sheetz spent over 6 years in early phase (Phase 1 and 2) clinical research group and was responsible for first-in-human trial design, planning, implementation, analysis, and interpretation. He also spent approximately 10 years of his career designing, planning and overseeing large Phase 3 clinical trial programs, most notably the study of a PKC-beta inhibitor for the treatment of diabetic complications. Dr. Sheetz is the Senior Medical Advisor for Adipo and is responsible for the design and planning of the Phase 1 clinical trial program.

Matt Sheetz, MD PhD

Senior Medical Advisor
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Shihuan Kuang, PhD

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Kuang is currently Cancer Center Chair in Stem Cell Biology and Professor of Animal Sciences at Purdue University, a leading research institution in the United States. His research focuses on cell and developmental biology, stem cells and tissue homeostasis, regenerative medicine, adipose tissue plasticity and obesity, and skeletal muscle and muscular dystrophy. He has over 150 peer-reviewed publications and was instrumental in the understanding of Notch-inhibition and its role in mitochondrial biogenesis and the beiging of white adipose tissue. Dr. Kuang received his Masters of Science from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and his PhD in Physiology and Cell Biology at the University of Alberta.

Shihuan Kuang, PhD

Scientific Advisor
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Board Members

Mike Clayman, MD

Board Chair, Adipo Therapeutics

Mike Clayman, M.D., co-founded Flexion Therapeutics in 2007 and served as president, CEO and a director from inception until its acquisition by Pacira Biosciences in November, 2021. During his tenure Dr. Clayman guided the discovery and development of ZILRETTA® for osteoarthritis-related knee pain. He currently serves as chairman of the boards of Anokion, Ribometrix, Nido Biosciences and Adipo Therapeutics.
Before founding Flexion, Dr. Clayman had a distinguished career at Eli Lilly and Company, leading numerous divisions engaged in a broad range of activities, from discovery research to clinical investigation to global regulatory affairs. Among his roles, he served as general manager of Chorus, Lilly’s early-phase development accelerator, and as vice president of Lilly Research Laboratories. Prior to Lilly, Dr. Clayman was an assistant professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where his research centered on the immunopathogenesis of renal disease.

Dr. Clayman is the recipient of the Physician Scientist Award from the National Institutes of Health. He holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.D. from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. He completed training in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and renal fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mike Clayman, MD

Board Chair, Adipo Therapeutics
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Karen Wurster, MBA

CEO

Karen Wurster, MBA is the CEO of Adipo Therapeutic. Ms. Wurster has over 25 years of leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry, where she dedicated her career to the development and launch of treatments for diabetes, launching more than 10 diabetes products and leading in areas including New Product Planning, Life Cycle Management, Global Brand Management, and US Commercialization. Karen is a proven transformative leader with demonstrated strength in recruiting, developing, and engaging teams to deliver strong results on a shared vision of success.Karen most recently worked as a strategic pharmaceutical marketing consultant, providing her expertise to companies developing and launching new products in diabetes and obesity. Her responsibilities at Adipo focus on developing a clear path to commercialization for the technology and cultivating potential collaborators and acquisition partners. Karen has a BS in biochemistry from Indiana University, and an MBA in finance from the IU Kelley School of Business.

Karen Wurster, MBA

CEO
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Meng Deng, PhD

Founder of Adipo Therapeutics

Meng Deng, PhD is the Founder of Adipo Therapeutics. The breakthrough technology of Adipo Therapeutics stems from his strong commitment and 15+ years of experiences on development of biomaterials-based translational technologies for cell engineering, tissue engineering, and drug delivery. Dr Deng is an Associate Professor of Biological Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Materials Engineering at Purdue University. Dr. Deng received a B.E. in Chemical Engineering in 2004 from Tsinghua University, China, a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2010, and conducted his postdoctoral research at the University of Connecticut Health Center and MIT. He was the recipient of Young Scientist Award from the 9th World Biomaterials Congress. His research is based on the convergence of materials science, micro/nano-scale engineering, and cell biology/medicine to develop cell-instructive biomaterials for cell engineering and musculoskeletal regenerative engineering. He serves as associate editor for Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology and on the editorial board of Regenerative Engineering and Translational Medicine.

Meng Deng, PhD

Founder of Adipo Therapeutics
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Gary Noonan

Board Observer, Elevate Ventures

Gary is a seasoned professional with over 40 years of experience working in large pharma, biotech start up, and as an independent consultant. He lead or supported the evaluation and negation of transactions involving the acquisition, disposition, and/or the licensing in/out of enabling technologies and early-stage compounds. From 2009 to 2016 he was the President, CEO and Director of Aarden Pharmaceuticals, Inc. after serving a multi-decade career at Eli Lilly & Company where he held a variety of roles including leadership roles within Corporate Business Development.

Gary Noonan

Board Observer, Elevate Ventures
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FAQs

What role does brown fat play in metabolism and obesity?

In contrast to the far more abundant white adipose tissue (WAT), brown adipose tissue (BAT) is much more metabolically active. It is associated with increased energy expenditure, improved insulin resistance, and decreased cardiovascular risk. BAT is naturally occurring in small amounts, and even minor increases may provide therapeutic benefits in metabolic disease including obesity and type 2 diabetes.

In retrospective positron emission tomography studies, greater amounts of BAT were associated with a lower prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases. BAT was independently correlated with lower odds of type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, congestive heart failure and hypertension. In addition, individuals with greater amounts of BAT had more metabolically healthy levels of blood glucose, triglyceride and HDL. The beneficial associations of BAT with cardiovascular disease were more pronounced in individuals who were overweight or obesity, indicating that BAT might play a role in mitigating the deleterious effects of obesity. Taken together, these findings highlight a potential role for BAT in promoting cardiometabolic health. (Nature Medicine January 2021; 58–65)

What are the potential benefits of ADPO-002NP and how will this advance the treatment of obesity?

ADPO-002NP is being developed to increase brown fat, with the goal of bringing its potential benefits, which may include weight loss without reduction in calorie intake, to people with obesity. This approach has the potential to provide healthy weight loss without causing an aversion to food. This may allow patients to maintain healthy nutrient intake and may be especially beneficial in those who have lowered resting metabolic rate due to metabolic adaptation or age. ADPO-002NP has produced beneficial effects on both weight and blood glucose in animal studies and ADPO-002 has been shown to produce browning of human white adipose tissue in both in vitro and ex vivo studies.

Based on preclinical data, the potential benefits of ADPO-002NP are likely to extend beyond weight loss to include improvements in glucose, lipids and cardiovascular health associated with higher levels of brown fat. In contrast to GLP1 agonists, weight loss with ADPO-002NP will likely occur without significant reductions in calorie intake and may allow for preservation of lean muscle mass.

How does ADPO-002NP increase brown fat?

ADPO-002NP creates small subcutaneous brown fat depots by leveraging the natural plasticity of white fat. ADPO-002NP induces the conversion of subcutaneous white fat to metabolically beneficial brown fat through mitochondrial biogenesis. The amount of weight loss will be dependent on the amount of brown fat created. Approximately 1/3 pound of new brown fat should produce 25 pounds of weight loss over 12 months (N Engl J Med. 2009;360:1518-25). The potential of ADPO-002 to brown human fat has been demonstrated through in vitro and ex vivo fat tissue studies.

ADPO-002NP is composed of Notch-inhibiting PLGA nanoparticles designed specifically to provide rapid uptake into white fat cells, sustained intracellular drug delivery, low dose and limited biodistribution.

What is the expectation for the dosing and convenience of ADPO-002NP?

ADPO-002NP is being developed to be a self-administered, convenient, weekly, subcutaneous injection into white adipose tissue using a small liquid volume (0.5mL) and a small 29-gauge needle.

ADPO-002NP works by forming small depots of brown fat within the subcutaneous white fat, creating “sinks” to draw in and burn lipids from throughout the body, consistent withreduced levels of circulating lipids and liver fat seen in ADPO-002NP-treated rodents. The dosing can be adjusted to modulate the amount and speed of brown fat creation and associated weight loss by altering the number and frequency of injections as desired. Based on the energy burning potential of brown fat, it is believed that the creation of only a small amount of brown fat, approximately 1/3 of a pound, will result in approximately 25 pounds of weight loss over 12 months (N Engl J Med. 2009;360:1518-25).

What is known about the safety of ADPO-002NP?

ADPO-002NP has not yet been tested in people, so human safety data are not available. The Notch-inhibiting nanoparticles have been specifically designed to provide rapid uptake into white fat cells and sustained intracellular drug delivery with a low dose and minimal dissemination to other tissues. This should reduce off-target impact and minimize the risk of side effects. Preclinical studies have demonstrated very limited biodistribution of the nanoparticles and active ingredient beyond the targeted tissue. In other preclinical studies to date safety signals, side effects or skin reactions have not been observed. Extensive preclinical toxicology studies will be conducted prior to submission of the IND.

How is ADPO-002NP different from existing anti-obesity medicines?

ADPO-002NP’s mechanism of action is different and complementary to existing marketed obesity treatments. Increasing brown fat through ADPO-002NP treatment may provide benefits not currently available in the market, including weight loss while maintaining healthy calorie intake and a very low risk of side effects. In contrast, the current leading obesity treatments act primarily through severe calorie restriction and are often accompanied by GI side effects including nausea and vomiting and the loss of lean muscle mass.

Our Investors and Partners

Our inception was driven by a singular goal:

A Unique Vision for Metabolic Health

Unparalleled Experience

Leadership Team

Karen Wurster, MBA

Karen Wurster, MBA

Meng Deng, PhD

Meng Deng, PhD

Keith Johns, MS, MBA

Keith Johns, MS, MBA

Sumitra Ghate

Sumitra Ghate

Marco Verwijs, PhD

Marco Verwijs, PhD

Tom Gabbert

Tom Gabbert

Key Scientific Advisors

Robert Considine, PhD

Robert Considine, PhD

Frank Greenway, MD

Frank Greenway, MD

Mark Heiman, PhD, FTOS

Mark Heiman, PhD, FTOS

Matt Sheetz, MD PhD

Matt Sheetz, MD PhD

Shihuan Kuang, PhD

Shihuan Kuang, PhD

Board Members

Mike Clayman, MD

Mike Clayman, MD

Karen Wurster, MBA

Karen Wurster, MBA

Meng Deng, PhD

Meng Deng, PhD

Gary Noonan

Gary Noonan

FAQs

What role does brown fat play in metabolism and obesity?

What are the potential benefits of ADPO-002NP and how will this advance the treatment of obesity?

How does ADPO-002NP increase brown fat?

What is the expectation for the dosing and convenience of ADPO-002NP?

What is known about the safety of ADPO-002NP?

How is ADPO-002NP different from existing anti-obesity medicines?

Our Investors and Partners

Meng Deng,
PhD

Meng Deng,
PhD