Calorify Commercializes and Scales Doubly Labeled Water Test to Support Clinical Trial Researchers, Healthcare Providers, and Sports Physicians
July 09 2024 - 9:41AM
Business Wire
Energy expenditure and body composition data
now available via at-home test using gold standard methodology,
backed by four decades of research
Calorify has formally announced its innovative, at-home test kit
powered by the doubly labeled water (DLW) method, a well-validated
measure of energy expenditure and body composition with
applications in a variety of healthcare and human performance
settings. Drug development, obesity care, and athlete fueling are
just three use cases for the data that Calorify’s test provides.
Because the DLW test relies on urine samples collected at home, it
is highly scalable and accessible.
“Calorify has made important process improvements to the doubly
labeled water method we’ve used for years in academia, enabling a
volume and speed of measurements which will lead to a wide range of
insights in everything from athletic performance to metabolic
diseases,” said Dr. Herman Pontzer, associate professor of
evolutionary anthropology and global health, Duke University, whose
research focuses on the intersection of evolution and metabolism.
“Doubly labeled water is the gold standard for measuring energy
expenditure in a real-world setting, so it’s great to see Calorify
make it available to be used more routinely.”
With their easy-to-use method of metabolic rate testing,
Calorify enables clinical trials and other research programs to
benefit from the insights associated with DLW. Calorify’s DLW test
kit increases the accessibility to energy expenditure and body
composition data for research on metabolic diseases, particularly
obesity. Calorify is partnering with academic institutions,
biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies on their drug
trials.
“Availability of a validated, reliable, scalable, and
cost-effective measure of energy expenditure and body composition
is vital in metabolism drug development,” said Rob Myers, MD, chief
medical officer and head of development, OrsoBio, a clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for obesity and
obesity-associated disorders. “The doubly labeled water method
wasn't previously available for widespread use in clinical trials
and we are grateful to have Calorify's technology as an option for
assessing the efficacy of our drugs in development.”
“DLW is a powerful method for understanding obesity treatments
and metabolic conditions more broadly,” said Dr. Justin Ryder, vice
chair of research for the department of surgery, Lurie Children's
Hospital, and associate professor of Surgery and Pediatrics,
Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. “Calorify delivers DLW
testing at a price point, volume and turnaround time that makes it
more accessible in research studies into a wide range of conditions
beyond the more obvious obesity and metabolic diseases.”
“We’re excited to play a role in enhancing drug development by
providing an innovative solution to metabolic testing that is not
only easier than previous methods but accessible to a wider
audience,” said Hari Mix, chief executive officer and founder of
Calorify. “Doubly labeled water is bedrock science and has been
used in the literature for the past 40 years. However, due to its
historically high cost and complexity, it’s only been used on
15,000 people over those four decades. Calorify seeks to play an
important role in bettering the lives of those living with chronic
diseases, while building up the world’s largest database of
accurate energy expenditure data.”
About Doubly Labeled Water
Discovered in 1949 by the late physiologist and professor at the
University of Minnesota, Dr. Nathan Lifson, DWL was restricted to
small animals due to the high cost of the oxygen-18 isotope. The
testing evolved to human use—but only in lab settings—and has led
to many vital scientific discoveries. To date, only 15,000 people
have received tests in 41 years. Calorify's at-home isotope testing
aims to make metabolism testing more easy and accessible for
clinical researchers, physicians, and athletic trainers.
About Calorify
Calorify is the first lab to commercialize this precise
metabolic rate measurement method using doubly labeled water. While
the science has existed for over 40 years, tests were limited to
those participating in academic research. Calorify’s lab
quantitatively measures how much CO2 an individual produces to
measure calories in a real-world setting. It aims to democratize
what is one of the most critical data points about the human
body.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240709414799/en/
Contact for Media Inquiries Mitti Bose Kalra SVP, Biotech
& Life Sciences PR Lead Makovsky mkalra@makovsky.com
Contact for Business Inquiries Karl Etzel VP, Business
Development Calorify karl@calorify.com