Gilead has announced a new strategic collaboration with Glympse, in order to explore the use of biomarker technology in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) clinical development.
The collaboration will use Glympse’s proprietary synthetic biomarkers – bioengineered to identify stage and progression of disease as well as early detection of treatment response – in order to determine clinical trial participants’ stage of disease at initial screening and to determine responses to study treatment in Gilead’s NASH clinical program.
Glympse’s proprietary technology – Glympse Inside – combines synthetic biomarkers with machine learning approaches to identify the stage and monitor progression of important, complex diseases such as cancer, fibrosis, inflammation, and infections, in real time.
Gilead’s senior vice president, Mani Subramanian, said that the company is “excited” about the opportunity to partner with Glympse, in order to help inform the NASH development program. He continued, “By utilising this innovative technology, we hope to better characterise this complex disease and improve our understanding of how our compounds impact disease progression.”
Back in April this year Gilead announced its intent to initiate a clinical collaboration with Novo Nordisk, for a trial combining compounds from their respective pipelines in NASH.
The disorder is a chronic and progressive liver disease characterised by fat accumulation and inflammation in the liver, which can lead to scarring, or fibrosis, that impairs liver function. If left untreated, individuals living with NASH may face serious consequences, including end-stage liver disease, liver cancer and the need for liver transplantation, and are at a significantly higher risk of liver-related mortality. Currently, patients living with NASH have limited treatment options.
