Competing with Madrigal in the THRβ agonist class in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, Viking’s VK2809 reports stronger efficacy and better safety and tolerability than resmetirom at that stage.

The cost-effectiveness group voted by a slight margin that Madrigal’s non-alcoholic steatohepatitis drug offers benefit above lifestyle changes alone, but decisively that Intercept’s candidate does not.

Lack of long-term clinical outcomes data on a slowly progressing, common condition combined with a rapidly changing treatment space for obesity and health system cost issues may present problems for two NASH treatments even if they win accelerated approval from US FDA.

89bio’s pegozafermin met co-primary endpoints of fibrosis reduction and NASH resolution in Phase IIb; the company said its methodology yielded lower placebo responses than in Akero’s Phase IIb study.