Surfing the MASH Tsunami

Send us Fan Mail The group concludes the preview of the upcoming Paris NASH conference after taking a thorough look at the diversity of topics in Session 5. Roger Green poses the closing question: What insights or energy would you like to see come out of this event? What is the immediate response, and what’s going to stick after 3 to 5 years? Jörn Schattenberg indicates his interest in the future...

Send us Fan Mail This conversation picks up focusing on the program’s opening session: Epidemiology and Public Health. Roger, Louise and Jörn begin to unpack the field of NASH in terms of adopting a holistic, metabolic approach. Roger asks, “How much of NASH are we thinking about in a holistic metabolic sense versus how much do we pay lip service to that, but really focus on the liver?” In respons...

Send us Fan Mail In this conversation, Roger Green, Louise Campbell, Jörn Schattenberg and Rachel Zayas share their particular interests in what’s to come from the 6 sessions hosted at this year’s Paris NASH Meeting. Rachel identifies a presentation in Session 2: Clinical Aspects, titled Controversy: are HIV infected patients more at risk of NASH? She notes the specific challenges faced by HIV pat...

Send us Fan Mail The 8th Paris NASH Meeting takes place on September 8th & 9th, where key opinion leaders from both sides of the Atlantic come together to present pivotal learnings and host exciting discussions on fatty liver diseases. Surfers Roger Green, Louise Campbell, and Jörn Schattenberg are joined by Rachel Zayas to discuss this year’s program and provide preview commentary on talks an...

Send us Fan Mail This conversation from The Vault - Season 3, Episode 25.3 is part of a broader overview of NASH drug development in 2022, led by Stephen Harrison and Jörn Schattenberg. It starts with Louise Campbell asking whether design and management of the ongoing trials will provide sufficient granularity on matching patient types to medications or drug classes. Stephen Harrison notes that we...

Send us Fan Mail The group investigates potential for different combination packages, beginning with Roger’s suggestion for an oral semaglutide. Naim notes that there are other combination trials in the works that may provide more insight. The episode then wraps up with Roger’s final question: in seven years, what percentage of patients being treated for NASH fibrosis, non-cirrhotic then cirrhotic...

Send us Fan Mail This conversation begins with a broader look at the strategies behind developing combination agents and the role these combination therapies will play in what Mazen Noureddin describes as the coming “combo-combo” world. The group agrees that 2 or 3 agents are the most they can see in a combination therapy at this time. They all agree that some patients will require combination the...

Send us Fan Mail The discussion shifts to the challenges behind collaborating in a field that, as Naim puts it, “no one has figured out what to do with.” Mazen calls on the “larger companies” to work with the smaller ones to make these studies more common, noting that the economics and risk profiles of smaller companies require them to focus on getting a single drug to market as quickly as possibl...

Send us Fan Mail Naim opens this conversation with his hope for finding eventual combination therapies that begin to realize a cure for NASH in some patients. In particular, he is encouraged to see so many patients achieve greater than 30% relative fat reduction in such a short study. Louise notes that the ability to show patients “real-world results” quickly will motivate them to maintain therapy...

Send us Fan Mail This discussion begins with Naim offering an in-depth look into the mechanics of the recently published combination study . He explains that “semaglutide hits every point” in terms of effects on metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular outcomes, obesity and liver fat, but it has not yet been proven in monotherapy to regress fibrosis. Gilead Sciences had three agents whose potential anti...

Send us Fan Mail This episode explores the future of combination agents in NASH Therapy. First author Naim Alkhouri and last author Mazen Noureddin join the Surfers to discuss their recently published article, Safety and efficacy of combination therapy with semaglutide, cilofexor and firsocostat in patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis: A randomised, open-label phase II trial (JHEP, 2022). W...

Send us Fan Mail Louise Campbell convenes liver nursing and nurse educator experts Kathryn Jack, Michele Clayton, Pam O'Donoghue and Patrizia Kunzler to consider where liver nurses and advanced nursing practitioners should fit into treatment and communication paradigms and what support they will need. Stephen Harrison joined to offer a different viewpoint. This conversation explores the need...

Send us Fan Mail Surfers Louise Campbell and Jörn Schattenberg are joined by patient advocate Robert Mitchell-Thain, liver nurse Michelle Clayton, and healthcare consultant Stephen Callaghan to talk about their unique perspectives in the process of pathway development for NAFLD. In doing so, the group looks for ways to incorporate the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) established by the Unite...

Send us Fan Mail Surfers Louise Campbell and Jörn Schattenberg are joined by patient advocate Robert Mitchell-Thain, liver nurse Michelle Clayton, and healthcare consultant Stephen Callaghan to talk about their unique perspectives in the process of pathway development for NAFLD. Louise begins this conversation by asking Stephen about a successful HIV pathway that he had contributed to, and how it...

Send us Fan Mail Surfers Louise Campbell and Jörn Schattenberg are joined by patient advocate Robert Mitchell-Thain, liver nurse Michelle Clayton, and healthcare consultant Stephen Callaghan to talk about their unique perspectives in the process of pathway development for NAFLD. In doing so, the group looks for ways to incorporate the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) established by the Unite...

Send us Fan Mail Surfers Louise Campbell and Jörn Schattenberg are joined by patient advocate Robert Mitchell-Thain, liver nurse Michelle Clayton, and healthcare consultant Stephen Callaghan to talk about their unique perspectives in the process of pathway development for NAFLD. In doing so, the group looks for ways to incorporate the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) established by the Unite...

Send us Fan Mail Surfers Louise Campbell and Jörn Schattenberg are joined by patient advocate Robert Mitchell-Thain, liver nurse Michelle Clayton, and healthcare consultant Stephen Callaghan to talk about their unique perspectives in the process of pathway development for NAFLD. In doing so, the group looks for ways to incorporate the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) established by the Unite...

Send us Fan Mail Jörn speaks about co-authoring an article, “The Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) drug development graveyard: established hurdles and planning for future successes.” In doing so, he discusses areas for improvement he feels clinical trial strategy and design will require. Joining the conversation is Stephen Harrison and Global Liver Institute Founder and CEO, Donna Cryer. Both St...

Send us Fan Mail THE NASH Tsunami audience came to know Jörn Schattenberg in the Fall of 2020 when he shared a paper he had recently co-authored on why NASH drug trials failed. This week, the same group that discussed that paper – Jörn, Stephen Harrison, Louise Campbell and Roger Green – reflect on what has improved in the intervening time period and what has not. The group speculates what can sti...

Send us Fan Mail THE NASH Tsunami audience came to know Jörn Schattenberg in the Fall of 2020 when he shared a paper he had recently co-authored on why NASH drug trials failed. This week, the same group that discussed that paper – Jörn, Stephen Harrison, Louise Campbell and Roger Green – reflect on what has improved in the intervening time period and what has not. The group suggest that researcher...

Send us Fan Mail THE NASH Tsunami audience came to know Jörn Schattenberg in the Fall of 2020 when he shared a paper he had recently co-authored on why NASH drug trials failed. This week, the same group that discussed that paper – Jörn, Stephen Harrison, Louise Campbell and Roger Green – reflect on what has improved in the intervening time period and what has not. Large metropolises are identified...

Send us Fan Mail THE NASH Tsunami audience came to know Jörn Schattenberg in the Fall of 2020 when he shared a paper he had recently co-authored on why NASH drug trials failed. This week, the same group that discussed that paper – Jörn, Stephen Harrison, Louise Campbell and Roger Green – reflect on what has improved in the intervening time period and what has not. The group suggest that while non-...

Send us Fan Mail THE NASH Tsunami audience came to know Jörn Schattenberg in the Fall of 2020 when he shared a paper he had recently co-authored on why NASH drug trials failed. This week, the same group that discussed that paper – Jörn, Stephen Harrison, Louise Campbell and Roger Green – reflect on what has improved in the intervening time period and what has not.  After Roger Green sets the stage...

Send us Fan Mail THE NASH Tsunami audience came to know Jörn Schattenberg in the Fall of 2020 when he shared a paper he had recently co-authored on why NASH drug trials failed. This week, the same group that discussed that paper – Jörn, Stephen Harrison, Louise Campbell and Roger Green – reflect on what has improved in the intervening time period and what has not. The group suggest that researcher...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 40 focuses on lean NASH, and Michelle Long notes that many patients with lean NASH are diagnosed in the Emergency Department when they present with symptoms of decompensating cirrhosis. This conversation from November 2021 considers cirrhotic patients from a different perspective: their uniquely valuable role in clinical trial strategy as the world evolves beyond biopsy as...