Inventiva rises as liver fat falls

Expectations for Nash and fatty liver are such that even a middling showing in an academic-led study can boost a stock. Today’s beneficiary is Inventiva, up 25% thanks to data on the PPAR agonist lanifibranor in patients with type 2 diabetes and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. In the trial, conducted by researchers from the University of Florida, lanifibranor reduced intrahepatic triglycerides over placebo after six months, hitting the primary goal. Inventiva released the comparison slide below, but the lanifibranor data here came from just 28 completers; in addition, adjusting for placebo shows lanifibranor only managed to outdo 24-week data on Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide. Still, semaglutide’s effect deepened over time, so perhaps lanifibranor’s will too. The project was largely safe though Inventiva today disclosed that lanifibranor patients gained an average of 2.5kg, while those in the placebo group lost 1kg. The group said this was similar to what was seen in the earlier, successful Native trial in Nash. In the ongoing phase 2 Legend trial in Nash and diabetes, lanifibranor is being combined with SGLT2 inhibitors, which might mitigate this side effect. Data from the pivotal Nativ3 trial in Nash are not expected until 2025.