Antibody Therapeutics Inc. has disclosed integrin receptor antagonists reported to be useful for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis, renal fibrosis and hepatic fibrosis.
Astrazeneca plc has developed a potent oral fibroblast activation protein (FAP) inhibitor, AZD-2389, that avoids the cleavage of FGF21 and α2-AP. AZD-2389 was tested in cynomolgus monkeys with diet-induced MASH.
The activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) is a key process in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis, but the molecular mechanisms behind it are not fully understood. By combining the analysis of differentially expressed gene screening of HSC transcriptome and weighted gene coexpression network analysis of liver tissue, researchers searched for transcription factors involved in liver fibrosis.
Liver fibrosis still lacks effective therapy; hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are the primary fibrogenic cell type activated during liver injury. To date, almost half of the drugs used for liver treatment are natural product derivatives.
The search for an effective therapy for liver fibrosis continues. A recent study by researchers at Medical University of South Carolina and collaborators explored the potential of a new compound, LP-340, as a treatment for liver fibrosis.
A small molecule could provide a new therapeutic approach against organ fibrosis. Using genome-wide association (GWA) assays, a group of researchers from the Westmead Institute for Medical Research in Sydney identified Mer tyrosine kinase (MERTK) as a candidate to study fibrosis and showed that its inhibition with the experimental compound reduced this condition in mouse models’ liver, kidneys and lungs. “There were some studies on the role of MERTK in liver fibrosis, but its therapeutic potential for various organ fibrosis has not been explored before. This study provides unequivocal evidence that MERTK is a potent nodal regulator of fibrosis supported by detailed mechanistic studies,” the senior author Mohammed Eslam told BioWorld.
As widely expected, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s resmetirom picked up the first U.S. FDA approval for treating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), an advanced form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease that has been steadily increasing in global prevalence. Branded Rezdiffra, the liver-directed THR-beta agonist gained accelerated approval for use in conjunction with diet and exercise to treat adults with noncirrhotic NASH with moderate to advanced liver fibrosis, specifically stages F2 and F3.
As the company’s phase II study in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis continues, Pliant Therapeutics Inc.’s investors looked hard at 12-week interim data from the 320-mg dose group of Integris-PSC, a multinational, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase II trial testing bexotegrast in primary sclerosing cholangitis and suspected moderate to severe liver fibrosis.
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.
Having raised HK$791 million (US$101 million) through an IPO in Hong Kong, Laekna Inc., which develops therapies for cancer and liver fibrosis, now plans to focus on further developing its two lead products in-licensed from Novartis and push its pipeline of 14 products forward.
