Pila Pharma raises SEK 20m to advance new oral obesity treatment
Ella Day | July 8, 2025 | News story | Research and Development | Novo Nordisk, Obesity, Ozempic, Pila Pharma, Wegovy, obesity, semaglutide, type 2 diabetes
Swedish biotech, Pila Pharma, has raised nearly SEK 20m, equivalent to €1.7m in a capital increase to advance the development of its oral obesity treatment, XEN-D0501. The funding round includes stock options for additional financing over the next nine months.
Founded by former Novo Nordisk researcher Dorte X Gram, who played a leading role in the discovery of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, Pila Pharma is developing XEN-D0501, a TRPV1 inhibitor. The candidate has already shown a favourable safety profile and efficacy in type 2 diabetes trials, with potential cardioprotective effects and improved insulin secretion.
With this new funding, the Swedish biotech plans to launch a dedicated obesity research programme, starting with preclinical weight loss studies in rats, followed by trials in overweight people without diabetes. The company hopes to generate weight loss data that could gather interest from pharma partners.
“With the new funding, we’re able to launch a dedicated obesity track, which we believe can deliver meaningful data and position XEN-D0501 as a differentiated treatment option,” said Gustav H Gram, CEO of Pila Pharma. “This would support our vision of expanding beyond diabetes into the broader obesity market,” he added.
The market for obesity drugs is expected to grow rapidly, with increasing demand for tablet-based treatments beyond the current GLP-1 class.
Ella Day
8/7/25
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