Pfizer Thinks First-In-Class KHK Mechanism Could Work For NASH, Diabetes

Pfizer Inc. boasts deep pockets and R&D expertise in a broad range of therapeutic areas, but it generally isn’t regarded yet as one of the big players in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). However, the big pharma has four NASH candidates in clinical development – each of which takes a hepatic fat-reduction approach to the multifactorial disease – and has begun talking up its first-in-class, Phase II ketohexokinase (KHK) inhibitor for the disease.

Pfizer presented data from a 53-patient Phase II study of PF-06835919 at the European Association for the Study of the Liver meeting April 10-14 in Vienna, saying the compound showed...