Webinar
Empowering GLP-1 Drug Discovery: Axxam’s Integrated Assay Platform for Metabolic Research
About the webinar – Empowering GLP-1 Drug Discovery: Axxam’s Integrated Assay Platform for Metabolic Research
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is an incretin hormone secreted by intestinal L-cells in response to nutrient intake.
It plays a pivotal role in glucose homeostasis by stimulating glucose-dependent insulin release, inhibiting glucagon secretion, and slowing gastric emptying.
Additionally, GLP-1 exerts anorexigenic effects via central nervous system pathways, making it a key therapeutic target for type 2 diabetes and obesity. Furthermore, is emerging that GLP1 agonists might have a potential role for preventing and treating Alzheimer’s disease (AD), however, there remain uncertainties regarding their efficacy.
In our webinar, we will briefly introduce Axxam’s concrete offerings to support drug discovery in metabolic dysfunction related to GLP1 activity.
Axxam has developed two complementary cell-based assays focused on the GLP-1 pathway:
- a GLP-1 receptor activation assay
- a GLP-1 secretion assay.
Together, these assays provide a robust and integrated platform for the identification and characterization of novel therapeutics targeting the incretin axis. Axxam’s technologies can support both mechanistic studies and the discovery of next-generation GLP-1–based treatments for metabolic disorders.
In this webinar you will learn about:
- Incretin mimetics for the treatment of metabolic disorders
- Axxam’s bioassays supporting GLP-1 Drug Research
- Pharmacological compound profiling at Axxam
Keywords
Metabolic disorders; Alzheimer treatment; GLP1; enteroendocrine cells; incretins; hormones; GPCRs; transporters; cell-based assays; Drug Discovery.
Meet the speakers
Jörg Hüser – Member of scientific advisory board, Axxam
Alberto di Silvio – Head of Assay Development, Axxam
Jörg Hüser studied Biology at the Ruhr-University in Bochum, Germany. He received a PhD in Physiology working on excitation-contraction coupling in cardiac muscle cells. Following a postdoctural training at Loyola University in Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine, in Maywood, IL, USA, he joined Bayer AG’s Pharma Research in Wuppertal, Germany. During his almost 25 year tenure at Bayer, he held different management positions, leading research units in Lead Discovery and Heart & Vascular Disease Research. Jörg joint Axxam in June 2023 as Chief Scientific Officer before becoming a member of the Scientific Advisory Board beginning of 2025.
Alberto di Silvio earned his degree in Biological Sciences in 1998 from the University of Milan. He joined Axxam in 2002, beginning his career in the Cell Biology Group, where he dedicated the first four years to developing cell-based assays. In 2006, he moved to the High Throughput Screening (HTS) group, gaining extensive experience in HTS and compound profiling techniques. In June 2019, Alberto was promoted to Unit Manager of the Compound Profiling Unit, where he oversees the work of seven Principal Scientists involved in various compound profiling projects. As of January 2023, he has taken on the role of Head of the Compound Profiling Group within Axxam’s Lead Discovery Services department. Most recently, in January 2026, he was appointed as Head of the Assay Development Group.