Press Release Details
Akero Therapeutics to Present at the 37th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference
President and CEO to share plans for the company's lead clinical candidate
San Francisco, CA – Akero Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing transformative treatments for patients with serious metabolic diseases with high unmet medical need, with an initial focus on non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), today announced the company will present at the 37th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, CA next week.
Akero’s President and CEO Andrew Cheng, MD, PhD, will share plans for the company’s lead clinical candidate, AKR-001 on Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at 9:30 a.m. PT. The presentation will be held in Elizabethan Room C at the Westin St. Francis.
The company’s lead product candidate, AKR-001, is a novel, long-acting fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) analog in-licensed from Amgen Inc. AKR-001 has been shown to reproduce the balanced pharmacology of native FGF21, a metabolic hormone harnessed and naturally recruited by the body to restore health to cells in distress, including in the liver. With specific potency at receptors FGFR1c, 2c and 3c but not FGFR4, AKR-001 has the potential to substantially reduce liver fat, cellular stress, inflammation and reverse fibrosis in patients with NASH and to improve risk factors of cardiovascular disease, by reducing triglycerides and non-HDL cholesterol. In two Phase 1 clinical trials in patients with Type 2 diabetes, AKR-001 was well-tolerated and shown to improve insulin sensitivity and lipoprotein markers with once-weekly subcutaneous dosing. The company is on track to initiate a Phase 2 clinical trial for AKR-001 in NASH patients in the middle of 2019.
About Akero Therapeutics
Akero Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of transformative treatments for patients with seriously metabolic disease with high unmet medical need, with an initial focus on NASH, by restoring metabolic balance. The company’s lead product candidate, AKR-001, is a novel long-acting FGF21 analog. Akero plans to initiate a Phase 2 clinical trial for AKR-001 in NASH patients in the middle of 2019.
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