Esperion Therapeutics Inc. has nominated ESP-2001 as a preclinical development candidate for the treatment of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). The company will now begin IND-enabling studies with the aim of filing an IND application with the FDA to initiate first-in-human studies next year.

Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disease in which lipid metabolism is often dysregulated. ATP-citrate synthase (ACLY) is known to play a key role in lipid metabolism, but its involvement in psoriasis is not well understood.