MetaVia, Syntekabio Partner Up to Expand Therapeutic Potential of Oral GPR119 Agonist
The companies will work together, leveraging Syntekabio’s AI prediction platform for virtual screening to uncover new, high-potential indications for MetaVia’s DA-1241 oral therapy.
Clinical-stage biotechnology company, MetaVia, has entered into a partnership with artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery company, Syntekabio, to identify potential additional indications for DA-1241. The collaboration was announced by MetaVia in an Aug. 4, 2025 press release (1).
DA-1241 is a novel oral G-Protein-Coupled Receptor 119 (GPR119) agonist that can be used as a standalone therapy or as part of a combination to treat metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and type 2 diabetes. The therapeutic benefits of MetaVia’s oral GPR119 agonist, such as its ability to reduce hepatic steatosis, inflammation, fibrosis, and improve glucose control, have been demonstrated in a pre-clinical animal models. Additionally, the therapy’s safety and tolerability have been confirmed in Phase Ia, Ib, and IIa clinical trials, and the efficacy also proven in a Phase IIa clinical study.
“The strong safety and tolerability profile shown in our Phase IIa data gives us confidence in DA-1241's broader therapeutic potential,” stated Hyung Heon Kim, President and Chief Executive Officer of MetaVia, in a company press release (1). “Building on this clinical foundation, we are collaborating with Syntekabio to strategically expand the potential value of DA-1241.”
In May 2025, MetaVia announced the results of its Phase IIa clinical trial, demonstrating the positive hepatoprotective and glucose-regulating effects of DA-1241, were to be presented at the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) Congress (2). The study, which assessed 109 patients with presumed MASH in a randomized, placebo-controlled setting, met the primary endpoint of an alteration in baseline alanine transaminase.
“The full data from our Phase II clinical study, as presented at the prestigious EASL Congress, confirm that DA-1241 is the first oral GPR119 agonist to demonstrate both hepatoprotective and glucose-regulating effects in presumed MASH patients,” said Kim, in a company press release (2). “Importantly, treatment with DA-1241 significantly reduced key markers of liver injury, inflammation, and fibrosis, while also improving non-invasive liver assessments such as CAP and FibroScan-AST (FAST) scores. In addition, DA-1241 efficiently improved glycemic control in patients with comorbid prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. DA-1241 was well tolerated across patient groups, with a favorable safety profile. These results suggest that DA-1241's hepatoprotective effects are likely driven by its anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic actions rather than just glucose lowering, offering a promising multi-faceted therapeutic approach for patients at risk of progressive liver disease.”
Through the recently announced partnership, MetaVia will be looking to leverage Syntekabio’s proprietary compound-protein interaction (CPI) AI prediction platform, DeepMatcher, to conduct large-scale virtual screening against more than 1,700 validated protein targets. The purpose of the virtual screening will be to uncover any new, high-potential indications for DA-1241 while also ensuring specificity and minimizing the risk of off-target effects.
“This data-driven approach will allow us to accelerate discovery and maximize the value of DA-1241,” added Kim in the company press release (1). “We believe this unique oral, well-tolerated candidate has the potential to address a range of unmet needs, and we look forward to initial insights from the collaboration later this year.”
DeepMatcher offers a modular approach for companies to accelerate their drug discovery efforts and lead optimization processes. The platform has been successfully used across several protein families, such as kinases, G protein coupled receptors, and nuclear receptors (3).
References
MetaVia. MetaVia Announces AI-Driven Collaboration with Syntekabio to Explore Additional Indications for DA-1241. Press Release, Aug. 4, 2025.
MetaVia. MetaVia Presents Data on DA-1241, a GPR119 Agonist, Deminstrating Both Hepatoprotective and Glucose-Regulating Effects in Patients with Presumed MASH, at the EASL Congress 2025. Press Release, May 7, 2025.
Syntekabio. Syntekabio Key Assets: DeepMatcher. Syntekabio.com, accessed Aug. 5, 2025.