By Colin Kellaher


Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Thursday said preliminary Phase 1 data supports the clinical advancement of ALN-HSD, which they are developing for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a chronic liver condition commonly known as NASH.

Regeneron and Alnylam said that based on target knockdown and safety results from the Phase 1 study, they plan to initiate a Phase 2 study later this year.

Tarrytown, N.Y., biotechnology company Regeneron and Alnylam, a Cambridge, Mass., biopharmaceutical company, in 2018 formed a collaboration targeting NASH and potentially other related diseases and forged a broader alliance the following year.

There are currently no FDA-approved products for NASH, a progressive disease that is a leading cause of liver transplant.

The update from Regeneron and Alnylam comes days after Akero Therapeutics Inc. reported positive Phase 2b study results for its lead product candidate in NASH--news that prompted a more than doubling in Akero shares during Tuesday's trading session.


Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-15-22 0742ET