Researchers from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine described the role of TRIM54 in cirrhosis progression using two independent animal models of chronic liver injury – a DEN-induced rat model and a CCl4-induced mouse model of liver cirrhosis.
Mursla Bio Ltd. recently entered a partnership with an unnamed large pharmaceutical company to use its AI Precision Medicine platform to help with drug development and ultimately develop companion diagnostics. The collaboration uses Mursla’s platform ability to isolate and analyze extracellular vesicles from a simple blood sample, to provide biologically labelled, multiomics data to improve patient stratification, monitor treatment and develop companion diagnostics.
In one of the biggest deals of the waning year, Novo Nordisk A/S is buying Akero Therapeutics Inc. to bolster its metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH)-treatment portfolio. In the $5.2 billion deal, Akero brings its fibroblast growth factor 21 analogue, efruxifermin, which is in a phase III study for treating those with moderate to advanced liver fibrosis and those with cirrhosis.
The U.S. FDA granted breakthrough device designation to Mursla Bio Ltd.'s Evoliver. The biopsy blood test uses extracellular vesicles to survey hepatocellular carcinoma in high-risk cirrhotic patients.
What a difference 60 weeks can make. That’s the lesson Akero Therapeutics Inc. shared with the rollout of what executives called “unprecedented” data from the phase IIb Symmetry trial testing efruxifermin (EFX), its FGF21 receptor agonist, in patients with compensated cirrhosis due to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). While earlier findings had shown only a trend in improvement at 36 weeks, full 96-week results showed more than doubling of earlier effect size, hitting the primary endpoint and sending shares of Akero (NASDAQ:AKRO) up 97% to close Jan. 27 at $51.71.
Ochre Bio Ltd. has established a partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG focused on the discovery and development of novel first-in-class regenerative treatments for chronic liver diseases, such as late-stage metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) cirrhosis.
There are several factors that induce cirrhosis. During cirrhosis, there is an increased intrahepatic resistance to blood flow, leading to portal hypertension, among others, where portal vein pressure is increased.
Hopes raised by the phase IIb Harmony study with FGF21 analogue efruxifermin (EFX) in pre-cirrhotic nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which appeared in a scientific journal last week, were less than fulfilled as Akero Therapeutics Inc. rolled out disappointing 36-week results from another, same-stage trial called Symmetry in NASH patients with cirrhosis. The company is forging ahead with U.S. FDA talks to figure out how a phase III effort might be designed.
Sequana Medical NV is considering listing in the U.S. as it builds towards the commercialization of its Alfapump, CEO Ian Crosbie told BioWorld in an interview. The company has received a U.S. FDA breakthrough device designation for Alfapump, which treats recurrent or refractory ascites due to liver cirrhosis, and it completed a pivotal study in 2022. The company intends to file the data with the FDA by the end of this year, with the hope of getting premarket approval before the end of 2024.
Echosens SA obtained clearance from the U.S. FDA to expand the indications for screening with its Fibroscan system. The approval removes contraindications for pregnancy and active implant and includes patients with confirmed or suspected liver disease. It designates Fibroscan as a noninvasive aid for clinical management, diagnosis and monitoring of adult and pediatric patients with liver diseases. The age has been removed as the first selection probe and exam-type step.
