Allergan and Novartis to study new treatment for NASH

Allergan has announced a new collaboration with Novartis that will focus on the development of a new non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) therapy.

The clinical trial agreement will see the companies conduct a phase IIb study combining Allergan's cenicriviroc and Novartis' lead farnesoid X receptor (FXR) agonist for the treatment of NASH, in order to assess the safety, efficacy and tolerability of this multi-therapy approach.

Cenicriviroc is a once-daily oral phase III-ready potent immunomodulator that blocks two chemokine receptors, CCR2 and CCR5, that are known to be involved in inflammatory and fibrogenic pathways.

In a previous phase IIb study, it demonstrated a clinically meaningful improvement in fibrosis without worsening of NASH after one year of treatment. Novartis' drug, meanwhile, is a potent non-bile acid FXR agonist that is also being assessed in phase II trials.

David Nicholson, chief research and development officer at Allergan, said: "Our clinical collaboration with Novartis brings together our collective scientific and development expertise in NASH to focus on multi-therapy treatment, which is expected to be the most likely approach based on the multifactorial aspects of this disease."

NASH is the progressive form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, with no currently available treatment options.

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