Innovative drug development company MedPacto announced on the 19th that it presented preclinical research results of the metabolic disorder-related steatohepatitis (MASH) treatment candidate ‘MIMERET’ (project name MP5021) at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD 2024), held in San Diego, USA, from the 15th to the 19th.
MedPacto CEO Seongjin Kim personally participated and presented the research results in a poster format, and held discussions on joint development with overseas companies and research institutions.
The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) is a leading conference in the field of liver diseases, where scientists and medical professionals from around the world gather annually to share the latest trends and research results in liver disease treatment and engage in various discussions.
MIMERET is a novel mitochondria-targeted therapeutic candidate that stimulates beta oxidation of fatty acids to improve fatty liver.
The study evaluated the effects on liver tissue and function, inflammation, and body weight by orally administering MIMERET once daily for 8 weeks to a mouse model induced with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) through an Amylin diet. The Gubra-Amylin NASH (GAN) diet-induced MASH model is known to closely resemble human MASH in pathological aspects such as liver damage, inflammation, fat accumulation, and fibrosis, making it a highly reliable model for drug efficacy evaluation.
The results confirmed that MIMERET administration improved liver histopathological features and liver function in the MASH infection model and reduced inflammatory cytokines. The NAS score, an indicator of MASH treatment efficacy, decreased from above stage 5 to below stage 2, and the fibrosis grade, which has a total of 4 stages, improved by more than one stage.
It was confirmed that MIMERET regulates genes related to mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation, reducing fatty liver and promoting weight loss. Unlike existing drugs, it is expected to have significant effects on controlling body fat, including fatty liver, by reducing body weight by 18% and visceral and subcutaneous fat by 64% and 54%, respectively.
A MedPacto official stated, "Through the research results, we confirmed new possibilities for treating MASH and obesity," adding, "MIMERET has already completed Phase 1 clinical trials, proving its safety, and rapid clinical development is possible from Phase 2 onward."
A MedPacto representative attending the conference said, "As limitations of GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1)-based drugs have recently begun to emerge, demand for new substances is increasing." They added, "At the conference, MIMERET attracted high interest from participants, receiving proposals for joint development not only for MASH but also for rare diseases such as primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) from leading global institutions."
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