Benzinga | Nov 30, 2021 04:45PM EST

Hepion Pharmaceuticals Receives FDA Fast Track Designation For CRV431 For The Treatment Of NASH

Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEPA), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on Artificial Intelligence ("AI")-driven therapeutic drug development for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis ("NASH") and other liver diseases, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") has granted Fast Track designation for the Company's lead drug candidate, CRV431, for the treatment of NASH.

The FDA Fast Track designation allows sponsors to gain access to expedited drug approval reviews for medical conditions that are serious and potentially life-threatening, and where there is an unmet medical need. The program is also designed to facilitate drug development by making provisions for more frequent meetings with the FDA to discuss drug development plans, and Fast Track designation can lead to Accelerated Approval and/or Priority Review eligibility if certain criteria are met.

"CRV431 has been investigated in healthy subjects during our Phase 1 program, and more recently in subjects with presumed F2 and F3 NASH in our Phase 2a AMBITION study," commented Todd Hobbs, MD, Hepion's Chief Medical Officer. "Administered once daily as an oral soft gel capsule, CRV431 has been well-tolerated and has shown signals of efficacy in NASH in this early Phase 2 study. We are now looking forward to initiating our larger Phase 2b NASH study, called 'ASCEND-NASH', in biopsy confirmed F2 and F3 NASH subjects in the coming months."

Dr. Hobbs continued, "We are keenly aware that there remains an urgent global need to develop NASH-specific therapeutic drugs for this potentially life-threatening condition, for which there are currently no FDA approved drugs. Furthermore, the American Liver Foundation estimates that at least 5% of the U.S. adult population has NASH. As such, we are very pleased to receive the FDA's Fast Track designation and are looking forward to working closely with the Agency as we advance development of CRV431."

Robert Foster, PharmD, PhD, Hepion's CEO, added, "This Fast Track designation provides for early and frequent communication with the FDA that will continue throughout the drug development and review process, which may lead to a more expedited drug approval and patient access to CRV431. Additionally, as part of the FDA Fast Track designation for CRV431 in NASH, Hepion will make its expanded access policy publicly available in the coming weeks."