molecules of the month

A potential best-in-class TRβ agonist prodrug for NASH demonstrates impressive efficacy and safety. Thyroid hormone receptor β (TRβ, THRβ or THR-β) agonists have seen a surge of interest in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), largely thanks to impressive Ph. III clinical data from resmetirom, a Breakthrough Therapy and 2022 Molecule of the Year candidate developed by Madrigal and originated at Roche. If its recently accepted NDA is approved, resmetirom could become the first drug to achieve accelerated approval for NASH after decades of research effort. Based on recent Ph. IIb results, Viking Therapeutics believes its liver-targeted TRβ agonist prodrug, VK2809 (MB07811, from Metabasis), could be best-in-class. In the trial, 85% of participants experienced 30% or greater…