Inventiva announces the publication of a scientific paper on the role of PPARs in the treatment of NASH in the medical journal Nature Review Gastroenterology & Hepatology

• PPARs are shown to be attractive therapeutic targets for the treatment of NASH, producing beneficial effects on the liver, improving features of the metabolic syndrome and mitigating the risk of related extra-hepatic diseases

Daix (France), November 2, 2020 – Inventiva (Euronext Paris and Nasdaq: IVA), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of oral small molecule therapies for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) and other diseases with significant unmet medical need, today announced the publication of a scientific paper on the role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) in the treatment of NASH by the peer-reviewed medical journal Nature Review Gastroenterology & Hepatology.

Published in coordination with the panNASH initiative, the article, entitled “Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis: the role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors”, discusses the current literature on Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), describes the role of PPARs in NASH and related metabolic diseases, and summarizes the preclinical and clinical data on the use of PPAR agonists.

NAFLD is a multisystem disease with extra-hepatic disease implications, including the development of type two diabetes (T2DM) and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). As the paper highlights, patients with NAFLD tend to present many features of the metabolic syndrome, such as central obesity, atherogenic dyslipidemia, hypertension, abnormal glucose tolerance and insulin resistance, and, in progression of NAFLD towards NASH, develop hepatic inflammation and often fibrosis.

According to the article, PPARs are key regulators of many of the adversely affected mechanistic pathways involved, making them attractive therapeutic targets for the treatment of NASH. Reportedly, PPARs produce beneficial effects on the liver, improve various features of the metabolic syndrome and mitigate the risk of developing related extra-hepatic diseases such as T2DM and CVDs.

The paper also discusses the well-known side effects of PPARs, explaining that those, including excessive body weight gain and fluid retention, can be controlled by the use of biomarkers and recover after stopping the treatment.

Jean-Louis Junien, Chairman of Inventiva’s Scientific Advisory Board, commented: “This scientific paper clearly illustrates that, although previous studies have shown limited efficacy of individual PPARs, ongoing clinical trials suggest a broader and more efficacious therapeutic potential especially of pan-PPAR agonists to treat the multisystem disease of NASH. This can in particular be attributed to their capacity to target different interrelated mechanisms in the pathophysiology of NASH. As such, lanifibranor, Inventiva’s lead drug candidate and only pan-PPAR agonist currently in development for the treatment of NASH, is ideally positioned in this field as evidenced by the recent topline results of the Company’s Phase IIb NATIVE clinical trial.”