AKERO GAINS 15% ON POTENTIAL OF LIVER DISEASE DRUG AND WEIGHT LOSS THERAPY COMBO
Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) added ~15% pre-market Monday after highlighting the potential of its investigational liver disease therapy efruxifermin (EFX) in combination with a popular weight loss drug class called GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1).
Presenting topline data from its Phase 2b SYMMETRY study, Akero (AKRO) said EFX combined with GLP-1 led to a 65% relative reduction in liver fat, while those on GLP-1 alone achieved a 10% relative reduction.
The findings represented 31-patient Cohort D in the SYMMETRY study, which included patients with pre-cirrhotic non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (F1-F3 fibrosis) and Type 2 diabetes.
Other findings indicate the normalization of liver fat in 88% of patients treated with EFX compared to 10% of those who received GLP-1 alone.
Patients in the EFX (N=21) and placebo (N=10) arms indicated comparable safety results, and grade 1 or 2 gastrointestinal events were among the most frequent adverse events found in the EFX-treated group.
While there were no drug-related serious adverse events, two EFX-treated patients exited the study.
Novo Nordisk (NVO) markets its GLP-1 agonist for weight loss and diabetes as Wegovy and Ozempic, respectively. Eli Lilly’s (LLY) diabetes therapy Mounjaro is a dual GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist.
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2023-06-05T11:43:37Z dg43tfdfdgfd