Vivani Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:VANI) and Okava Pharmaceuticals, Inc. expanded their collaboration to include dogs in the development of OKV-119, a long-acting GLP-1 therapy for weight management, diabetes and other cardiometabolic conditions.

Financial terms of the expanded agreement were not disclosed.

Okava Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage company focused on diseases of aging in dogs and cats.

Vivani and Okava initiated their collaboration in 2019, focusing on developing OKV-119 for cardiometabolic conditions in cats.

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Vivani Medical To Spin Off Cortigent Neurostimulation Business To Create Better Focus On Individual Entities And Shareholder Value

OKV-119 leverages Vivani's proprietary NanoPortal technology, which provides smooth and steady delivery of therapeutic molecules, including GLP-1 receptor agonists, over extended periods from a single implant.

According to Okava, dosing every six months or longer supports a "One-and-Done" approach between office visits consistent with the product profile of Vivani's NPM-115, an ultra long-acting GLP-1 implant in clinical stage development to improve medication adherence and tolerability for the treatment of chronic weight management in humans.

"This expanded partnership with Okava reflects our shared confidence in the potential of NanoPortal technology to serve a broad array of prospective beneficiaries in the management of metabolic disease. The structure of this expanded partnership minimizes costs and risks for Vivani while integrating upside potential for Vivani shareholders through future milestone payments and royalties," said Vivani CEO Adam Mendelsohn.

In March, Vivani Medical released preclinical data for NPM-139, its subdermal semaglutide implant under development for chronic weight management in obese and overweight individuals.

In an ongoing study in healthy rats, a single administration of the semaglutide implant NPM-139 resulted in body weights nearly 20% lower than a sham implant control group throughout a 91-day treatment period.

Price Action: VANI stock closed at $1.04 on Monday.

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This article EXCLUSIVE: Vivani Medical Collaborates With Okava To Expand Development Of GLP-1 Therapy For Dogs originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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