MediciNova Reveals Positive Results Of MN-001 For NASH, To Start Phase 2 Trial

(RTTNews) - MediciNova, Inc. (MNOV), a biopharmaceutical company, Tuesday announced positive results from a study that examined potential clinical efficacy of MN-001 for the treatment of NASH, or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

MediciNova said it is preparing to initiate a Phase 2 trial for the treatment of NASH in the U.S.

MN-001 is a novel, orally bioavailable small molecule compound which demonstrates anti-inflammatory activity in preclinical models.

MN-001 administered orally once daily (10, 30, and 100 mg/kg) for 3 weeks, was evaluated in STAM(TM) (NASH-HCC) mouse model of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, as measured by liver biochemistry and histopathology, NAFLD activity score (NAS), and percent of fibrosis and gene expression.

MN-001, in a dose-dependent manner, significantly reduced fibrosis area compared with vehicle (p

Congruently, MN-001 was shown to down-regulate certain gene expression levels in the liver. At low and mid doses, MN-001 significantly down-regulated MCP-1 (p

Collectively, these results provide compelling evidence that MN-001 warrants further evaluation for the treatment of NASH in humans.