VIDEO: AASLD Industry Colloquium brings together leaders in industry, academia, regulation

BETHESDA, Maryland — In this exclusive video from the AASLD Industry Colloquium 2018, Kris V. Kowdley, MD, FAASLD, from Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, discusses the topics covered at the meeting and the opportunities for representatives of the industry, academia and regulatory agencies to come together.

“We have a very exciting conference going on and we brought together key players and participants from industry, academia and the regulatory agency perspective to discuss key, critical questions in the development landscape and clinical trial design for cholestatic liver diseases, hepatitis B, NASH, portal hypertension and liver cancer,” Kowdley said.

According to Kowdley, concern among those attending the meeting is developing therapies for liver diseases with as simple and successful an application as has been seen in direct-acting antivirals for hepatitis C.

“These are all rapidly growing areas in terms of drug development and there is a burning need for new therapies in every one of these areas. Hepatitis C, as you know, has been largely finished with drug development,” Kowdley continued. “We need similar therapies for patients with chronic cholestatic disease and chronic hepatitis B. And, of course, the burden of liver cancer has continued to grow.” – by Talitha Bennett

Disclosure: Kowdley reports no relevant financial disclosures.