Akero soars as drug shows it reverses scarring in liver disease patients

By Sriparna Roy

(Reuters) -Akero Therapeutics shares gained 106% before the bell on Monday, after its lead drug showed it can help patients with a type of liver disease to reverse scarring of the organ without worsening the condition in a keenly awaited mid-stage trial.

The experimental drug efruxifermin is being studied in patients with severe scarring due to a type of fatty liver disease known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).

In the trial, 39% of patients treated with a 50 milligram dose of the drug experienced reversal of cirrhosis, or liver scarring, with no worsening of MASH, compared with 15% of those who received a placebo, after 96 weeks.

“Akero is the first to show reversal of cirrhosis, a goal that has evaded the field until now,” said Evercore ISI analyst Liisa Bayko.

MASH, which was earlier known as NASH or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, affects around 5% of adults in the U.S., according to the American Liver Foundation, making it a large patient population.

The trial meaningfully supports the potential multibillion-dollar opportunity in the underserved population of patients, said Citi analyst Jonathan Woo.

Efruxifermin mimics a hormone that regulates lipid, glucose and energy metabolism, in turn reducing collagen levels found in liver scars.

Shares of peer 89bio rose more than 50% after the study results. The company is conducting trials with its experimental drug pegozafermin in patients with severe scarring of the liver.

Drugmakers such as Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are also conducting trials with their blockbuster GLP-1 treatments to treat patients with the type of liver disease.

In patients who were not taking GLP-1s, 45% of those who were on Akero’s drug showed reversal of cirrhosis without worsening the condition, compared with 17% for placebo, which suggests the observed reversal was not attributable to GLP-1 therapy, the company said.

(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Mrigank Dhaniwala)