TNF Pharmaceuticals and Renova Health are set to use AI and machine learning for the identification of high-risk subjects who could benefit from interventions designed to preserve lean muscle mass during glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) therapies for weight loss, diabetes management, and chronic weight control.

In alignment with the recent Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) draft guidance on AI utilisation, the collaboration is scrutinising data from 30,000 subjects to pinpoint those at high risk.

TNF aims to leverage this data to optimise subject recruitment, thus expediting the development of its isomyosamine drug, a plant alkaloid small molecule.

The AI and machine learning technology of Renova Health, which comprises natural language processing (NLP) and a large language model (LLM) platform, provides TNF with the capability to sift through several subject records.

This process identifies a specific group that could benefit from the drug, including individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, chronic kidney disease, or sarcopenia/frailty, particularly those who have experienced an inflammatory acute medical event such as a fall or bone fracture and are on GLP-1 medications.

According to TNF, the drug has shown promise in regulating the immuno-metabolic system by modulating various pro-inflammatory cytokines.

One of these, TNF-alpha (TNF-α), plays a significant role in initiating and perpetuating the inflammatory response and is implicated in the onset of numerous age-related conditions.

TNF Pharmaceuticals' chief medical officer and president Mitchell Glass said: “Our collaboration partner, Renova Health has used its AI and machine learning technology platform to analyse and identify optimal patient pools and study sites, enabling a swift and efficient progression of our study series over the coming months.

“This technology has allowed us to look at the constellation of underlying conditions, symptoms, acute events, and medications being taken across thousands of patients to identify specific patient subsets for which isomyosamine treatment may be most beneficial.”

Additionally, TNF is developing a second drug platform, Supera-CBD, aimed at treating chronic pain, epilepsy and addiction.