Galmed reports one-year results from global Phase 3 trial of Aramchol

Galmed Pharmaceuticals announced that the one-year results of the Open-Label part, or ARCON, of its global Phase 3 trial of Aramchol in 150 patients with NASH and fibrosis, or ARMOR, have been published in Hepatology. Aramchol is the most advanced down regulator of SCD-1 in clinical development. Inhibition of SCD-1 has been recently investigated in multiple indications, re-emphasizing its metabolic master switch potential and importance in multiple organs and activities. Aramchol, by targeting this single receptor, induces a cascade of events that leads to two main changes; in hepatocytes, Aramchol elevates the fatty acids oxidation (or in other words – fat burn) and influences AMPK, which results also in reducing glycemic parameters; and in hepatic stellate cells, Aramchol has been shown to down-regulate the expression and activity of stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1, resulting in a direct effect on fibrogenesis.