PRESS RELEASE
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Tue Apr 30, 2013 11:45am EDT
GENFIT: GFT505 AT THE HEART OF POTENTIAL THERAPIES DURING THE ANNUAL EASL CONGRESS
Lille (France), Boston (Massachusetts, United States), April 30, 2013 - GENFIT (Alternext: ALGFT; ISIN: FR0004163111), a biopharmaceutical company at the forefront of drug discovery and development, focusing on the early diagnosis and preventive treatment of cardiometabolic and associated disorders, today announces that NASH was a prominent theme at the international liver congress of EASL held in Amsterdam, and that GFT505 is indisputably recognized as one of the most promising drug candidates in this indication.
NAFLD and NASH is a major preoccupation of experts in hepatology. As such, these liver disorders associated with conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus, were the subject of over 50 scientific communications during the EASL congress, underlining in particular the morbidities and increasing prevalence, not only in industrialized but also emerging countries. During a state-of-the-art session entitled "NAFLD 2013: a clinical update", Pr. Christopher Day clearly provided the latest results on epidemiology, pathophysiological processes, and natural history of the disease, which pointedly put forward the urgent need for new therapies. In this context, Pr. Day considered the mechanism of action of GFT505 as a promising approach presently in clinical evaluation for NASH.
In addition to the conference of Pr. Day, other communications were presented on GFT505 as an excellent drug candidate for the treatment of NASH. Notedly, in his presentation entitled « An overview of lipotoxicity by nuclear receptors », Pr. Bart Staels detailed the roles of nuclear receptors PPARa and PPARd, targets of GFT505, in the mechanisms associated with NASH. Based on these known mechanisms, Pr. Staels presented the latest preclinical and clinical results demonstrating the efficacy of GFT505, and indicated that these new findings have been accepted for publication in major international peer reviewed scientific journals (Hepatology and Diabetes Care). Their official publications will be announced in the coming weeks.
The important satellite meeting organized by GENFIT, which gathered together over 90 clinical investigators and key opinion leaders from different countries implicated in the GFT505-212-7 study, provided confirmation of the acute interest which the scientific community has on GFT505 as a treatment of NASH. The investigators noted in particular the exceptional efficiency of patient recruitment in the study, which demonstrates the hope and anticipation incited by GFT505 in NASH patients who today are without any therapeutic solution.
*About NAFLD/NASH:
NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) and in particular NASH (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis) are serious liver diseases that can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer. The development of NAFLD/NASH is associated with the pathophysiological process of insulin resistance in patients that are overweight and/or diabetic. NAFLD is believed to affect 70-80% of diabetic patients, and progresses to chronic liver disease (NASH) in 20-50% of cases. Mortality due to liver disease is thus 2-3-fold higher in the diabetic population than in the overall population. The NASH market was estimated at 615 $M in 2010 and should reach 2,008 $M in 2018.
About GENFIT:
GENFIT is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the Discovery and Development of drug candidates in therapeutic fields linked to cardiometabolic disorders (prediabetes/diabetes, atherosclerosis, dyslipidemia, inflammatory diseases.). GENFIT uses a multi-pronged approach based on early diagnosis, preventive solutions, and therapeutic treatments and advances therapeutic research programs, either independently or in partnership with leading pharmaceutical companies, including Sanofi, to address these major public health concerns and their unmet medical needs.
GENFIT's research programs have resulted in the creation of a rich and diversified pipeline of drug candidates at different stages of development, including GENFIT's lead proprietary compound, GFT505, that is currently in Phase IIb.
With facilities in Lille, France, and Cambridge, MA (USA), the Company has approximately 80 employees. GENFIT is a public company listed on the Alternext trading market by Euronext(TM) Paris (Alternext: ALGFT; ISIN: FR0004163111). www.genfit.com
Contacts:
GENFIT
Jean-François Mouney - CEO & Chairman of the Management Board
Ph. +333 2016 4000
Milestones - Press Relations
Bruno Arabian
Ph. +331 7544 8740 / +336 8788 4726 - barabian@milestones.fr
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