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Galectin Therapeutics’ Statement Following the Recent 2023 Emerging Topic Conference on NASH Cirrhosis, Sponsored by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases
NORCROSS, Ga., April 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Galectin Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: GALT), the leading developer of therapeutics that target galectin
About this update from Galectin Therapeutics Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"NORCROSS, Ga., April 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Galectin Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: GALT), the leading developer of therapeutics that target galectin proteins, attended the 2023 Emerging Topic Conference on NASH Cirrhosis: From Mechanisms to Management, sponsored by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). The Conference took place in Los Angeles, March 25-26, 2023. The AASLD has created a new forum to share knowledge around NASH cirrhosis and explore current and future opportunities for patients affected with this devastating disease. Currently, the only curative treatment for patients is a liver transplantation, an expensive procedure whose access is extraordinarily limited. The conference was attended by members of the AASLD Hepatology Community who have a special interest in liver cirrhosis due to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The disease is projected to become a major global health issue, and the main reason for liver transplantation in the United States. The conference was attended, moderated, and chaired by clinical investigators who have enrolled their patients in Galectin Therapeutics’ ongoing NAVIGATE study, an innovative phase 2b/3 study evaluating the effect of belapectin for the primary prevention of esophageal varices in patients with portal hypertension due to NASH cirrhosis. The conference notably highlighted the importance of understanding and targeting liver macrophages to slow the disease process. Belapectin, Galectin Therapeutics’ candidate drug, is a galectin-3 inhibitor that targets macrophages, the main producer of this pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic molecule. There were also sessions dedicated to therapeutic targets and clinical study design. In the sessions on study designs the conferees addressed the choice of primary outcome of efficacy as well as the type of population that can be selected for registration drug candidates. The conference reiterated the known limitation of liver biopsy, including the lack of sensitivity for response criteria in cirrhotic patients and the difficulty predicting the timing of cirrhotic decompensation events. While non-invasive biomarkers may offer opportunities in the future, more data must be gathered before considering them as potential surrogate markers of efficacy. In this context, the evaluation and prevention of esophageal varic...