Unlocking liver regeneration

Although many acute and chronic liver diseases eventually cause liver failure, the only approved treatment is liver transplantation. HepaRegeniX GmbH is developing MKK4 inhibitors to unlock the regenerative capacity of endogenous hepatocytes to treat end-stage liver failure and the liver-damaging diseases that lead to it.

MKK4 is part of a stress signaling cascade in cells and has been investigated as a target in inflammation, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and neurological disease. But CEO Wolfgang Albrecht said HepaRegeniX views the protein as a “master regulator” of hepatic regeneration, and is the first company to go after it in liver diseases...