HU6 data demonstrates significant selective weight loss across all body compartments.

Rivus – a company specialising in improving cardio-metabolic health – has announced results from its phase 2a trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of its HU6 candidate.

The therapy is a controlled metabolic accelerator (CMA), to address liver fat and total body fat in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), while the metabolic trial was a 61-day randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study that researched the treatment at a variety of doses. Indeed, the trial is the first clinical study that features extended dosing of HU6 in subjects with high body mass index.

The study successfully met its primary target, of liver fat reduction, and multiple secondary endpoints including body weight and fat reduction by abdominal MRI. HU6 was also associated with significant reductions in liver fat as well as total body fat in patients with NAFLD.

Furthermore, patients treated with HU6 demonstrated significant improvement in key cardiovascular and metabolic health indicators including glycemic control and inflammatory markers.

“Obesity is the underlying driver of a broad range of cardio-metabolic conditions including NAFLD,” explained Shaharyar Khan, chief scientific officer at Rivus. “The phase 2a trial results showed that HU6, a first-in-class CMA, stands alone in its mechanism for fat selective weight loss, meeting the primary endpoint for reducing liver fat, as well as reducing body fat in the treated population.

“These results set up the next phase of HU6 clinical development in cardio-metabolic disease, including a phase 2a trial in obese patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, which is currently enrolling, and a phase 2b trial in obesity that will begin enrolment in 2023,” he added.