Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (AKRO), Monday, announced encouraging preliminary topline Week-96 results from a phase IIb trial of its investigational drug Efruxifermin in patients with compensated cirrhosis due to MASH (F4).
In the trial, dubbed SYMMETRY, Efruxifermin demonstrated statistically significant cirrhosis reversal in patients with biopsy-confirmed compensated cirrhosis due to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis or MASH.
Among patients with baseline and week 96 biopsies, 39 percent of participants treated with 50mg efruxifermin showed cirrhosis reversal with no worsening of MASH compared to 15 percent from placebo group.
Meanwhile, in the Intent to Treat population, 29 percent of patients in the 50mg efruxifermin group experienced reversal of cirrhosis with no worsening of MASH, compared to about 12 percent in the placebo group.
Notably, in a subgroup of patients who were not taking GLP-1 at baseline, 45 percent of patients in the 50mg efruxifermin group experienced reversal of cirrhosis with no worsening of MASH compared to 17 percent of participants in the placebo group.
The study also highlighted the long-term benefits of efruxifermin treatment with participants in the 50mg group showing more than a doubling of effect size from weeks 36 to 96.
In the pre-market hours, Akero's stock is surging 93.05 percent, to $50.54 on the Nasdaq.
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April 24, 2026 15:15 ET Economics news flow was relatively light this week even as the conflict in the Middle East continued, raising concerns for policymakers. In the U.S., spending data, initial jobless claims and pending home sales were the highlights. Business confidence in the biggest euro area economy was in focus in Europe. Inflation data from Japan gained attention in Asia.