Eli Lilly and Company announced detailed results from SYNERGY-NASH, a phase 2 study of 190 patients, with or without type 2 diabetes, to evaluate the investigational use of tirzepatide in adults with biopsy-proven metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) with stage 2 or 3 fibrosis.

The efficacy estimandi showed 51.8%, 62.8% and 73.3% of participants taking 5 mg, 10 mg and 15 mg, respectively, achieved an absence of MASH with no worsening of fibrosis on liver histology compared to 13.2% of participants on placebo at 52 weeks of treatment, meeting the study's primary endpoint. The data were presented at the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) Congress 2024 and simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

"MASH is the second most common contributor to liver transplantation in the U.S., highlighting the need for novel therapies," said Rohit Loomba, MD, MHSc, chief of the division of gastroenterology and hepatology at University of California San Diego School of Medicine. "The study is significant, given the urgent need for treatment options that are capable of slowing the progression of the disease and potentially reducing serious health complications."