Exercise mimetic

ATX-304, formerly O304, is a pan-AMPK activator from Betagenon developed as a type 2 diabetes drug and exercise mimetic. In a phase IIa trial in people with type 2 diabetes already on metformin, it lowered fasting glucose and insulin resistance and improved microvascular perfusion. In a 2026 phase 1b trial in 23 adults with obesity and prediabetes, 400 mg a day for 8 weeks was reported to lower liver fat, visceral fat and triglycerides and to raise resting metabolic rate, with minimal weight loss; so far that trial exists only as a poster abstract and a company press release. Newer mouse work extends it to fatty liver and kidney injury. The developer's patents describe a milled sodium salt: in volunteers, about a quarter of the dose in enteric capsules matched the blood levels of the original suspension, and rabbit work suggests both the salt and the milled capsule formulation contribute.

MOTS-c is a 16-amino-acid peptide encoded in mitochondrial DNA, not in the cell nucleus. In mice, injections prevented diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance and improved running capacity at every age tested. In people, exercise raises the body's own MOTS-c, but no trial has given MOTS-c to humans, and measurements of it in blood disagree between methods.

SLU-PP-332 is a synthetic agonist of all three estrogen-related receptors (ERRα, β and γ), strongest at ERRα, and the best-known "exercise mimetic" research compound. In mice it switched on an aerobic exercise gene program, increased oxidative muscle fibers and improved endurance. In obese mice it raised energy expenditure and fat oxidation, reduced fat mass and improved glucose tolerance. It has never been tested in humans.

SLU-PP-915 is a pan-ERR agonist from the lab that made slu-pp-332. It is a chemically distinct thiophene boronic acid and, unlike SLU-PP-332, it is orally bioavailable. In mice it improved aerobic exercise performance as much as SLU-PP-332 did and protected the heart in a heart-failure model. It has never been tested in humans.