Currently, there is no FDA-approved drug for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which has evolved into the second leading cause of liver transplantation in the U.S. Researchers from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Epigen Biosciences Inc. disclosed preclinical data on EPGN-2154, a novel lysophosphatidic acid LPA1 receptor agonist that has already demonstrated antifibrotic activity in preclinical kidney and liver models.

A recent Epigen Biosciences Inc. patent describes ribosomal protein S6 kinase β (p70S6K) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of diabetes, autism spectrum disorders, fibrosis, fragile X syndrome, liver diseases and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).