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PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 23, 2021-- Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARWR) today presented positive interim results from AROHSD1001, an ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical study of ARO-HSD, the company’s investigational RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutic being developed as a treatment for patients with alcohol-related and nonalcohol related liver diseases, such as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), at The International Liver Congress - The Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL). The data demonstrate that ARO-HSD is the first investigational therapeutic to achieve robust reductions in messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein levels of hepatic HSD17B13, leading to reductions in alanine aminotransferase (ALT), a liver enzyme typically elevated in liver diseases including NASH.
Javier San Martin, M.D., chief medical officer at Arrowhead, said: “Genetic studies have recently shown that HSD17B13 is a compelling target for multiple forms of liver disease. It is exciting to present clinical data at EASL demonstrating that ARO-HSD is the first investigational medicine using any therapeutic modality to achieve inhibition of HSD17B13 in patients. It is also highly encouraging to see ALT levels drop significantly following just two doses of ARO-HSD. These data and the strong genetic evidence of HSD17B13 as a potential therapeutic target provide us with increased confidence as we consider the design of potential late-stage clinical studies for ARO-HSD.”
Pharmacodynamics and Efficacy
All five patients with suspected NASH showed a strong pharmacodynamic effect as measured by liver biopsy at Day 71. HSD17B13 mRNA was reduced by a mean of 84%, with a range of 62-96%. HSD17B13 protein was reduced by 83% or greater. Two patients had a protein decrease of 92% and 97%, while the other three patients’ Day 71 measurements were reduced to below the lower limit of quantitation.
Mean ALT reduction from baseline was 46%, with all patients showing reductions ranging from 26-53%. ARO-HSD is the first investigational RNAi therapeutic to demonstrate robust inhibition of hepatic HSD17B13 mRNA and protein expression with associated reductions in ALT.
Safety and Tolerability
ARO-HSD was well tolerated without any identified safety signals in healthy volunteers given a single dose of ARO-HSD at 25mg, 50mg, 100mg or 200 mg and in the 5 patients with suspected NASH given a single 100 mg dose of ARO-HSD on Days 1 and 29. Adverse events were similar between subjects receiving ARO-HSD or placebo. Two instances of mild injection site bruising and mild injection site erythema were observed in ARO-HSD treated subjects. There were no ARO-HSD associated grade 3 or 4 laboratory abnormalities (NCI-CTCAE v5.0), no drug related serious or severe adverse events, and there were no drug discontinuations.
AROHSD1001 (NCT04202354) is a Phase 1/2 single and multiple dose-escalating study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamic effects of ARO-HSD in up to 74 normal healthy volunteers and patients with NASH or suspected NASH. Additional exploratory objectives include the assessment of various measures of drug activity using liver biopsy.