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Ratziu V, de Guevara L, Safadi R, Poordad F, Fuster F, Flores-Figueroa J, Arrese M, Fracanzani AL, Ben Bashat D, Lackner K, Gorfine T, Kadosh S, Oren R, Halperin M, Hayardeny L, Loomba R, Friedman S, Sanyal AJ. Aramchol in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2b trial. Nat Med 2021; 27:1825-1835. [PMID: 34621052 DOI: 10.1038/s41591-021-01495-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2020] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a chronic liver disease without an approved therapy, is associated with lipotoxicity and insulin resistance and is a major cause of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Aramchol, a partial inhibitor of hepatic stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD1) improved steatohepatitis and fibrosis in rodents and reduced steatosis in an early clinical trial. ARREST, a 52-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2b trial randomized 247 patients with NASH (n = 101, n = 98 and n = 48 in the Aramchol 400 mg, 600 mg and placebo arms, respectively; NCT02279524 ). The primary end point was a decrease in hepatic triglycerides by magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 52 weeks with a dose of 600 mg of Aramchol. Key secondary end points included liver histology and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Aramchol 600 mg produced a placebo-corrected decrease in liver triglycerides without meeting the prespecified significance (-3.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) -6.4 to 0.2, P = 0.066), precluding further formal statistical analysis. NASH resolution without worsening fibrosis was achieved in 16.7% (13 out of 78) of Aramchol 600 mg versus 5% (2 out of 40) of the placebo arm (odds ratio (OR) = 4.74, 95% CI = 0.99 to 22.7) and fibrosis improvement by ≥1 stage without worsening NASH in 29.5% versus 17.5% (OR = 1.88, 95% CI = 0.7 to 5.0), respectively. The placebo-corrected decrease in ALT for 600 mg was -29.1 IU l-1 (95% CI = -41.6 to -16.5). Early termination due to adverse events (AEs) was <5%, and Aramchol 600 and 400 mg were safe, well tolerated and without imbalance in serious or severe AEs between arms. Although the primary end point of a reduction in liver fat did not meet the prespecified significance level with Aramchol 600 mg, the observed safety and changes in liver histology and enzymes provide a rationale for SCD1 modulation as a promising therapy for NASH and fibrosis and are being evaluated in an ongoing phase 3 program.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Ratziu
- Sorbonne Université, Institute for Cardiometabolism and Nutrition and Hôpital Pitié- Salpêtrière, INSERM UMRS 1138 CRC, Paris, France.
| | - L de Guevara
- Hospital Ángeles Clínica Londres, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - R Safadi
- Hadassah Medical Organization, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem. The Holy Family Hospital, Nazareth, Israel
| | - F Poordad
- Texas Liver Institute/UT Health San Antonio San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - F Fuster
- Centro de Investigaciones Clinicas Viña del Mar, Viña del Mar, Chile
| | | | - M Arrese
- Departamento de Gastroenterología Facultad de Medicina Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Santiago Chile and Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Anna L Fracanzani
- Department of Internal Medicine, Ca' Granda IRCCS Foundation, Policlinico Maggiore Hospital, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - D Ben Bashat
- Sagol Brain Institute, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine & Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - K Lackner
- Institute of Pathology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - T Gorfine
- Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - S Kadosh
- Statexcellence Ltd, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - R Oren
- Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - M Halperin
- Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - L Hayardeny
- Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - R Loomba
- NAFLD Research Center, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - S Friedman
- Division of Liver Diseases, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Arun J Sanyal
- Department of Gastroenterology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
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