Welcome to a special three-part series called 'The Metabolic Moment'.

In just a few years, GLP-1 drugs have become a phenomenon. They’ve transformed how we treat diabetes and obesity, created one of the biggest markets in pharma, and sparked a cultural conversation that reaches far beyond the clinic. Now that market is shifting. Cheaper alternatives are coming, new mechanisms are entering trials, and some companies are aiming for something closer to a cure.

So what happens next for patients, for the companies leading the field, and for the startups hoping to overtake them? Across three conversations, we’ll follow the money, the science, and the people behind this metabolic moment.

In part three of our series and ahead of Diabetes Awareness Month, I spoke with Ryan Confer, President and CEO of Genprex, about the company’s move from cancer into diabetes, the realities of making gene therapies at scale, and where a potential one-time treatment could fit alongside GLP-1s.

• 02:21 Meet Ryan Confer and Genprex
• 09:49 What gene therapy can offer patients that GLP-1s cannot
• 12:36 How GPX-002 works and the type 2 diabetes data presented at ASGCT
• 17:22 Working with a CDMO to manufacture an AAV gene therapy at scale
• 20:07 Standing out from GLP-1s and stem cell approaches in diabetes
• 27:59 Diabetes Awareness Month and the prospect of a functional cure

Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! 

Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter

To dive deeper into the topic: 

• The Metabolic Moment: 3 big bets to watch in metabolic disease
• Beyond GLP-1s: is there a new wave of metabolic disease treatments?
• The future of diabetes treatment: Is a cure possible?