Obesity KOL Call Wrap-Up: Lean Mass Matters

Research evidence excerpt

Obesity KOL Call Wrap-Up: Lean Mass Matters

Quick Note

June 22, 2026 Biotechnology

Analysts

Yun Zhong, Ph.D.

(917) 608-0166 We hosted a KOL call with Dr. Fatima Stanford, Associate Professor of Medicineyun.zhong@wedbush.com

and Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Mass General Hospital, to discuss

available and emerging therapies for obesity and how INHBE inhibition, with

lean mass preservation, can fit into the treatment paradigm. While highlighting

affordability and patient access to efficacious treatments as the largest unmet

medical need in obesity, Dr. Stanford sees INHBE inhibition as a "a genuine

differentiation" that has strong potential as an add-on to incretin-based therapies.

Replay information is available upon request.

Muscle Preservation is Important. Dr. Stanford sees muscle loss associated with

GLP-1 therapies as a real concern, particularly in older adults and patients with

lower baseline muscle mass issues. In addition to fall risk and frailty, muscle loss can

have profound implications for metabolic health, since muscle serves as the body's

primary storage of glucose reserves. According to Dr. Stanford, there is a growing

emphasis on resistance training and protein intake to combat muscle loss, to the

extent of causing a protein powder shortage in the U.S. due to purchases by those

that are receiving GLP-1 therapies.

Body Composition Could Become a Registrational Endpoint. Dr. Stanford

highlighted the limitations of 1) BMI used for patient enrollment, and 2) weight

loss as an efficacy endpoint, since BMI doesn't distinguish fat from lean muscle or

visceral from subcutaneous fat. Therefore, therapies that produce identical percent

weight loss through different MOAs could lead to different fat-to-lean ratios

and different functional consequences.