This is the final online version of this year’s AASLD in 30 Seconds, an e-mail newsletter from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases’s Liver Meeting.
As we wrap up here, we’re wishing everyone safe and smooth travels back home, shutdown permitting. It was so cold in the conference center on Monday that “The Park” on the third floor became a refuge for shivering attendees. Light filtered in through the windows, making it like a lovely sunroom.
Good data for PBC, semaglutide and a metabolic accelerator
In a late-breaking session, we received an update from the open-label extension of the phase 3 ELATIVE trial, which investigated long-term elafibranor therapy in patients with primary biliary cholangitis. PBC is a rare, chronic liver condition characterized by inflammation and scarring of the bile ducts, which can lead to liver damage. Elafibranor received accelerated FDA approval in June of 2024 as a second-line therapy for PBC. In the extension trial, more than three years of treatment among 115 patients saw sustained improvements in biomarkers for bile flow and stabilization in markers of fibrosis in most participants, suggesting the potential to slow disease progression. Improvements in moderate-to-severe fatigue and itching — which are troublesome symptoms of PBC — maintained over time. No new safety signals emerged, and the ELATIVE extension trial is ongoing.
