Forget Ozempic — trials are now underway for a pill that would deliver the same effects as exercise

To be clear, popping this pill won’t make you swole, nor will it make it easy to run a marathon. What scientists are hoping it will do, however, is help suppress the appetite of people who take it, maintaining muscle mass as they lose weight. They’re also trying to avoid the gastrointestinal issues suffered by many GLP-1 drug users.

“ENV-308 is our attempt to put the chemistry of exercise into a daily tablet, and to offer a sustainable and convenient solution that synergizes with people’s daily habits and supports them on the path to long-term health,” said Viswa Colluru, Enveda’s founder and CEO, in a statement.

The exercise hormone

The drug, which is taken orally once a day, mimics Lac-Phe, a hormone that is released by the body during high-intensity exercise. In animal studies, the company says, ENV-308 preserved lean muscle during weight loss and prevented weight regain after weight-loss therapy was ended.

Enveda has planned a series of future trials, incorporating people who have stopped or are planning to stop using GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound.

The pharma company says it’s also evaluating the drug’s potential to help with other conditions that benefit from exercise, including inflammatory bowel disease, migraines and polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS, which was formerly known as polycystic ovary syndrome).

Not imminent

While the early tests are promising, that’s no guarantee Enveda’s drug will make it to market. And even if it does, it won’t happen in the immediate future.

Phase II trials for a new drug often last up to two years and Phase III trials can run for four or five years, as both look at longer-term effects of an experimental drug. Assuming ENV-308 clears both of those, the drug will then need to obtain approval from the Food and Drug Administration and that can take anywhere from six to 12 months.

Still, Enveda is optimistic about the pill’s potential.

“Unraveling the chemistry of exercise through the lens of AI presents a new frontier for the discovery of the next generation of metabolic medicines,” said Nadeem Sarwar, Enveda’s global head of metabolic strategy & disease prevention.