Gilead's NASH drug fails to meet late-stage study goal

[April 25, 2019]  (Reuters) - Gilead Sciences Inc's experimental drug aimed at treating fatty liver disease NASH failed to meet the main goal of a late-stage study on Thursday, two months after it failed another.

The trial was testing the drug, selonsertib, in patients with a form of fibrosis, called bridging, caused by NASH or Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis.

The drug did not show an improvement in fibrosis symptoms, Gilead said.

The company in February said selonsertib had failed another trial testing patients with compensated cirrhosis, an advanced form of NASH.

Analysts have projected the market for NASH treatments to reach $20 billion to $35 billion as people with fatty diets increasingly develop the disease.

Fat accumulation and inflammation from NASH can lead to scarring of tissue, or fibrosis, that impairs liver function.

(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

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