CytoDyn appoints Melissa Palmer as lead consultant in hepatology

CytoDyn (CYDY) announced that Dr. Melissa Palmer, M.D., has been engaged as Lead Consultant in Hepatology. In this role, Dr. Palmer will drive the Company’s strategy for research and development in Hepatology, leveraging her expertise to further CytoDyn’s clinical evaluation of leronlimab in treating liver conditions, including MASH and liver fibrosis. This engagement follows the recent breakthroughs with SMC Laboratories. In addition, the Company announced that following initial results from its preclinical study with SMC, it has commissioned the lab to conduct two follow-up studies to confirm and extend the observation of fibrosis reversal observed in the study concluded in September 2024. Both follow-up studies are underway, with results expected in early 2025. Palmer brings more than three decades of deep research experience to the CytoDyn team. She has held leadership positions at several biotech and pharmaceutical companies, including serving as CMO of Gannex/Ascletis and Head of Liver Disease at Takeda Pharmaceutical Company. Dr. Palmer will work with the CytoDyn team to oversee the two follow-up studies with SMC. These studies will again compare leronlimab alone and in combination with other therapies, including both resmetirom, the only approved treatment for MASH, and a GLP-1 agonist in an increased number of mice evaluated in both a proprietary STAM model of MASH which includes T2DM, as well as a second model of liver fibrosis driven by CCL4 toxicity that is independent of fat deposition.