Metabolic Disorders and Diseases
Addressing the Complexity of Metabolic Drug Discovery
Metabolic diseases arise from complex interactions between endocrine signaling, energy metabolism, inflammation, fibrosis, and multi-organ dysfunction. Successful drug discovery therefore requires models that capture disease biology across adipose tissue, liver, pancreas, skeletal muscle, kidney, and cardiovascular systems rather than focusing on a single endpoint.
WuXi Biology and Testing combines disease-relevant in vitro, organoid, ex vivo, and in vivo pharmacology with translational biomarkers, DMPK, bioanalysis, and safety assessment to support metabolic drug discovery from target validation through IND-enabling studies. Our platform supports obesity, diabetes and diabetic complications, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), dyslipidemia, cardiometabolic disease, chronic kidney disease, and related metabolic disorders across multiple therapeutic modalities.
By the Numbers
Validated Metabolic Disease Models
Metabolic Pharmacology Assays
Priority Metabolic Targets
Supporting Next-Generation Metabolic Therapies
The metabolic therapeutic landscape is rapidly evolving, with increasing interest in multi-target therapies, combination approaches, and precision medicines that address the complex biology underlying obesity, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and related metabolic disorders.
Success depends on understanding how therapies influence interconnected metabolic pathways, organ systems, and disease progression. From receptor activation and glucose homeostasis to body composition, energy expenditure, tissue remodeling, and long-term metabolic health, comprehensive preclinical evaluation helps identify candidates with the greatest potential for clinical success. Our capabilities support small molecules, peptides, antibodies, oligonucleotides, cell therapies, and other emerging therapeutic modalities, enabling informed decision-making throughout drug discovery.
Challenges and Solutions for Metabolic Diseases
Challenges
Identifying metabolically relevant targets and demonstrating biological activity while optimizing compounds for efficacy and selectivity.
Solutions
- Target identification and validation
- Cellular functional assays
- Mechanism-of-action studies
- Disease-relevant metabolic cell models
- Translational biomarker identification
Challenges
Demonstrating target engagement, pathway modulation, or gene regulation while addressing modality-specific biology
Solutions
- Target engagement assays
- Human primary cell and disease-relevant models
- Gene and protein expression analysis
- Biomarker discovery supporting translational development
Challenges
Demonstrating efficacy and PK/PD relationships using clinically relevant metabolic disease models.
Solutions
- Obesity, diabetes, MASH, and dyslipidemia models
- Metabolic phenotyping
- Glucose and insulin assessments
- Histopathology
- PK/PD biomarker analysis
Challenges
Evaluating target-specific efficacy and durable pharmacodynamic responses in translational metabolic disease models.
Solutions
- Humanized models, where appropriate
- Biomarker-driven efficacy assessment
- Translational pharmacology
- Functional metabolic endpoints
Challenges
Characterizing exposure while optimizing ADME properties and dosing strategies.
Solutions
- Comprehensive DMPK studies
- In vitro ADME
- PK/PD modeling
- Bioanalytical assay development
Challenges
Understanding exposure, target-mediated disposition, and pharmacodynamic activity to support dose selection.
Solutions
- Ligand-binding and LC-MS bioanalysis
- Biomarker assays
- PK/PD integration
- Immunogenicity assessment, where appropriate
Challenges
Assessing systemic safety while supporting progression into IND-enabling studies.
Solutions
- Early safety assessment
- GLP toxicology
- Clinical pathology
- IND-enabling toxicology studies
Challenges
Characterizing target-related and modality-specific safety risks to support first-in-human development.
Solutions
- Integrated safety assessment
- Bioanalysis and immunogenicity testing
- GLP toxicology
- Regulatory support through IND submission
Metabolic Disease Models & Translational Pharmacology
Metabolic diseases involve complex interactions between glucose regulation, lipid metabolism, inflammation, fibrosis, and multiple organ systems. Our integrated platform combines disease-relevant in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo models with translational pharmacology to support target validation, efficacy evaluation, and candidate selection across the metabolic disease spectrum.
Capabilities include:
- Obesity models
- Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes models
- MASH and liver fibrosis models
- Dyslipidemia models
- Diabetic kidney disease models
- Diabetic wound healing models
- Cardiometabolic disease models
- Hyperuricemia and gout models
- Translational biomarker strategies
- PK/PD-supported efficacy studies
Metabolic Phenotyping & Functional Assessment
Comprehensive metabolic phenotyping provides the functional insights needed to evaluate therapeutic efficacy and understand disease mechanisms. We combine physiological, biochemical, and imaging endpoints to characterize treatment response and generate translational data that supports informed decision-making throughout drug discovery.
Capabilities include:
- Glucose tolerance tests (GTT)
- Insulin tolerance tests (ITT)
- HbA1c and glucose homeostasis assessments
- Body composition analysis
- Energy expenditure and indirect calorimetry
- Food intake and metabolic cage studies
- Lipid metabolism assessment
- Histopathology and tissue analysis
Advanced Cellular Models for Metabolic Research
Advanced cellular systems complement animal models by providing mechanistic insight into disease biology and therapeutic response. We use human primary cells, organoids, and disease-relevant cellular assays to investigate target biology, evaluate pharmacological activity, and strengthen translational confidence before progressing to in vivo studies.
Capabilities include:
- Human primary hepatocytes and adipocytes
- Human iPSC-derived cellular models
- Liver and intestinal organoid models
- Co-culture and disease-relevant cellular systems
- Mechanism-of-action studies
- Functional cellular assays
- Gene and protein expression analysis
- Translational in vitro pharmacology
Related Services
Discovery Biology
Advance drug discovery with integrated biology services spanning target discovery, pharmacology, disease models, and translational research.
Learn More
DMPK
Optimize drug candidates through integrated ADME, pharmacokinetics, PK/PD, and translational DMPK services.
Learn More
Bioanalysis
Support drug development with robust bioanalytical testing, biomarker analysis, and quantitative assay development.
Learn More
Safety Assessment
Advance candidates with GLP and non-GLP safety assessment services supporting regulatory submissions worldwide.
Learn More
You May Also Be Interested In
Discuss Your Program with Us
Share your development goals and key challenges with our experts to define the right path forward.
Frequently Asked Questions
Metabolic diseases are disorders that disrupt the body's normal processes for producing, storing, or using energy. They include conditions affecting glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism, liver function, and body weight regulation, such as diabetes, obesity, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and dyslipidemia.
Metabolic diseases are often driven by multiple interconnected biological pathways involving the liver, adipose tissue, skeletal muscle, pancreas, immune system, and gastrointestinal tract. This complexity can make it difficult to identify effective therapeutic targets and predict clinical outcomes using a single experimental model.
Drug discovery programs span a wide range of therapeutic approaches, including small molecules, biologics, peptides, oligonucleotides, and other emerging modalities. Depending on the disease and therapeutic strategy, treatments may target appetite regulation, insulin sensitivity, lipid metabolism, inflammation, fibrosis, or energy expenditure.
Efficacy is assessed using clinically relevant functional and translational endpoints, including glucose and insulin tolerance testing, body composition analysis, energy expenditure, lipid metabolism, histopathology, and biomarker analysis. These data help characterize pharmacological activity and support confident candidate selection.
Our platform supports a broad range of therapeutic modalities, including small molecules, monoclonal and bispecific antibodies, peptides, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), oligonucleotides, mRNA therapeutics, and other emerging approaches. Study designs are tailored to the biology, mechanism of action, and development goals of each program.
Our integrated platform connects discovery biology with DMPK, bioanalysis, and safety assessment through a coordinated workflow. By generating consistent pharmacology, exposure, biomarker, and safety data throughout development, we help reduce risk, improve decision-making, and accelerate progression toward IND-enabling studies.