7) This was a presentation at the end of May 2026, at the 15th International Biomedical Research into ME Colloquium (BRMEC15).
The full video is available on the Invest in ME website:
1) Watched this presentation by Dr. Steve Gardner from PrecisionLife.
Their genetic analysis suggests that ME/CFS is highly polygenic and heterogeneous. They are using their data to make drug repurposing trials more effective, for example on GLP-1 receptor agonists.
2) They have an interest in GLP-1 RA because it affects biological pathways that come up in the ME/CFS genes they identified such as synaptic and calcium signalling, glucose homeostatis and endothelial dysfunction.
4) Because of the heterogeneity in ME/CFS, different drugs will work for different people - no single trial will benefit everyone. For GLP-1 RA, they recommend focusing on three subgroups: autoimmune/inflammatory, cardiovascular and/or energy metabolism.
5) Precisionlife has been using its AI-driven combinatorial analytics platform to find genetic drivers of GLP-1 efficacy so that they can predict and stratify strong and weak responders.
More info:
6) in ME/CFS they recommend starting with low dose studies. This reduces costs but also side effect and adverse events which can set back trial development for many years. ME/CFS patients are particularly sensitive to medication changes and side effects.
3) In a previous analysis they also looked at genes that are protective for ME/CFS and several were involved in type-2 diabetes, insulin-related signalling, BMI, etc. That's another reason why they are interested in the GLP-1 drugs.
Link: