“What is exciting about this study is that we feel like we are taking another small step in shedding some light on how diet and drugs can modulate bacteria and how these organisms modify their environment.” ~Andrew Patterson

Research Lead

Andrew Patterson
Associate Professor, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences

Product

A pharmaceutical combination of compounds that inhibits the nuclear receptor farnesoid X receptor and can be used to design therapeutics for treating or preventing high-fat-diet-induced obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Why it's Important

Some 34 percent of adults and 15 to 20 percent of children and adolescents in the United States are obese.

Status

  • Heliome Biotech, Inc., a Penn State startup company
  • Developing new drugs based on the initial design
  • U.S. Provisional Patent Application (61/861,109)
  • U.S. Provisional Patent Application (62/004,436)
  • PCT Patent Application (PCT/US2014/49,460)

Technology Development Awards

  • $37,500 - RAIN Grant (2014)
  • $5,000 - Ben Franklin TechCelerator (2015)

Office for Research and Graduate Education

Address

217 Agricultural Administration Building
University Park, PA 16802-2600

Office for Research and Graduate Education

Address

217 Agricultural Administration Building
University Park, PA 16802-2600