Gelesis Holdings Inc. announced Dr. Frank Greenway will give an oral presentation at Obesity Week in San Diego, on November 2 at 4:00 pm PDT. Frank L. Greenway, MD, Medical Director and Professor at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University and the principal investigator of the LIGHT-UP study, will present data supporting Waist to Height Ratio as a potential biomarker to help predict weight loss response with GS200 treatment in people with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. Considering the previously reported findings from the LIGHT-UP study, the significant improvement in fasting insulin and postprandial insulin response, as well as the notable reduction in waist circumference (secondary endpoints), a post hoc analysis was conducted to explore whether abdominal fat affects the level of weight loss response with the novel hydrogel treatment.

Waist to Height Ratio was used for this analysis as it represents a simple metric for body shape and potential abdominal fat, known to be associated with insulin resistance & metabolic syndrome. GS200 is an orally administered superabsorbent hydrogel taken by capsule with water 10 minutes before lunch and dinner and is designed to act mechanically in the gastrointestinal tract in order to induce weight loss in patients with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.