Viking Therapeutics NAFLD therapy achieves significant liver fat reduction

Viking Therapeutics announced positive top-line results from a 12-week phase 2 study of VK2809, a liver-selective thyroid receptor beta agonist for the treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, according to a press release.

VK2809 demonstrated significant reduction in liver fat content and LDL-C compared with placebo.

“The trial utilized a state-of-the-art method, MRI-PDFF, as a non-invasive quantitative biomarker of changes in liver fat content,” Rohit Loomba, MD, MHSc, director of the NAFLD Research Center at the University of California in San Diego, said in the release. “The quantum of liver fat reduction along with LDL-lowering properties of VK2809 are potentially likely to be beneficial in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) who have a significant risk of not only liver fibrosis progression but also cardiovascular disease.”

Compared with placebo, patients who received VK2809 either daily or every other day had a significant median relative change in liver fat by MRI-PDFF (–58.1% vs –8.9%; P < .01) and were significantly more likely to experience a 30% or more reduction in liver fat (83.3% vs. 18.2%; P < .01).

The researchers report that VK2809 was well-tolerated and no patients experienced serious adverse events.

Reference: www.vikingtherapeutics.com