MASH
OSE Immunotherapeutics has kicked off a strategic realignment initiative that involves deprioritizing the AbbVie-partnered OSE-230 and focusing its resources on the late-stage development of its ulcerative colitis candidate lusvertikimab.
After last year’s ‘stampede’ for FGF21 assets, the focus for the metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis space has shifted toward differentiated approaches, such as THR-β agonists and combination treatments, that seek to mirror the commercial success of Madrigal’s Rezdiffra.
The pact between Madrigal Pharmaceuticals and Ruzhou Ribo Life Sciences could complement the former’s Rezdiffra, the first FDA-approved therapy for MASH. That drug made $287.3 million in the third quarter of 2025.
Altimmune’s pemvidutide showed “class-leading signals” in non-invasive assessments and has “potentially best-in-class tolerability,” according to analysts at H.C. Wainwright.
Viking Therapeutics CEO Brian Lian is watching the growth of interest in MASH and obesity but prepared to go it alone.
Novo will add Akero’s efruxifermin to its MASH portfolio, which includes Wegovy after the GLP-1 gained an FDA nod in the indication earlier this year.
The star of the acquisition, which includes a contingent value right of $6 per share, is pegozafermin, an FGF21 analog in late-stage development for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.
Aside from the rare disease market, Novo Nordisk also scored a key regulatory win last month for its blockbuster GLP-1 drug Wegovy, which can now be used to treat patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.
The label expansion could help Novo Nordisk “help shift the momentum” for Wegovy, after a difficult start to 2025, according to analysts at BMO Capital Markets.
Madrigal will study SYH2086 in combination with Rezdiffra for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, aiming for clinical trials in early 2026.
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