The Helmsley Charitable Trust issued a $3,035,566 grant to three researchers to explore the effects of GLP-1s, including Ozempic and Wegovy, on patients with Crohn’s disease.
The effort will be led by Louis Cohen, MD, assistant professor of medicine in gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, Parakkal Deepak, MD, associate professor of medicine in gastroenterology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Andres Yarur, MD, associate professor of medicine in gastroenterology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to a Dec. 11 press release.
The grant will fund an investigation reviewing how GLP-1s may be used in the treatment of Crohn's and explore how weight loss medication could promote healing in the intestinal epithelium.
The grant will fund a clinical trial wherein patients will be given a GLP-1R agonist for the treatment of Crohn's disease, in contrast to traditional therapies that target inflammation. Investigators will take samples from patients and study the mechanisms through which GLP-1s affect the cells in the intestine.