DILIsym Services, Inc., a Simulations Plus company (Nasdaq: SLP) and a leading provider of modeling and simulation software and services for pharmaceutical safety and efficacy, today announced that important applications of their software programs were presented in poster form at the 2020 AASLD virtual Liver Meeting. Liver safety research conducted with the DILIsym software platform was reported for the COVID-19 drug remdesivir in a poster presented by Dr. Kyunghee Yang. The research helped to characterize the liver safety profile of the important anti-viral treatment. Quantitative systems pharmacology (QSP) work was presented by Dr. Zack Kenz focused on a NAFLDsym software application for the agonist anti-FGFR1/KLB bispecific antibody, BFKB8488A. The role of adiponectin in the reduction of liver fat (steatosis) in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) patients was investigated as a key point of emphasis, and the results suggested adiponectin may play a major role in the mechanism.
DILIsym modeling supports key drug development decisions by predicting potential drug-induced liver injury (DILI) risk of new drug candidates. The modeling also identifies the biochemical events that lead to DILI caused by a drug and can thereby predict certain subgroups of patients at increased risk for DILI from that drug. DILIsym is the product of an ongoing public-private partnership (the DILI-sim Initiative) that involves scientists from the pharmaceutical industry and academia.
NAFLDsym is QSP modeling software designed to support the development of treatments for NAFLD and NASH. The platform enables users to predict efficacy for novel treatment approaches, with the ability to evaluate compounds with various mechanisms of action. These mechanisms include fibrosis, steatosis, lipotoxicity, and inflammation. NAFLDsym also allows users to predict efficacy in NASH patients for combinations of treatments.
Dr. Scott Q. Siler, Chief Scientific Officer of DILIsym Services, said: “Our 2020 virtual Liver Meeting posters on remdesivir and BFKB8488A show our continued commitment to great science and important collaborations, even in the midst of the turbulent year of 2020. Kyunghee and Zack should be commended for their excellent work.”
Dr. Brett A. Howell, President of DILIsym Services, added: “These applications in both safety and efficacy are critical examples of our many great partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry. Both posters relate very closely to diseases where treatments are critically needed.”