Efruxifermin Fails to Significantly Reduce Fibrosis in Compensated Cirrhosis: Study

Key Findings

Reduction in fibrosis without MASH worsening at 36 weeks in:

• 13% of placebo patients (8 of 61 patients).

• 18% of patients receiving 28-mg efruxifermin (10 of 57 patients).

• 19% of patients receiving 50-mg efruxifermin (12 of 63 patients).

At 96 weeks, reduction of fibrosis without worsening of MASH was observed in:

• 11% of patients in the placebo group (7 of 61 patients).

• 21% of patients in the 28-mg efruxifermin group (12 of 57 patients).

• 29% of patients in the 50-mg efruxifermin group (18 of 63 patients).

• The between-group difference in fibrosis reduction at 96 weeks between the 50-mg efruxifermin group and placebo was 16 percentage points (95% CI, 2 to 30).

• Gastrointestinal adverse events were more common in patients receiving efruxifermin, but most were mild or moderate.

Efruxifermin failed to significantly lower fibrosis in patients with MASH-induced compensated cirrhosis. More gastrointestinal adverse events were seen in the efruxifermin arms, but these were generally mild or moderate in severity. The findings indicate that although efruxifermin might have some promise, its place in treating advanced fibrosis in MASH is unclear.

Reference:

Noureddin, M., Rinella, M. E., Chalasani, N. P., Neff, G. W., Lucas, K. J., Rodriguez, M. E., Rudraraju, M., Patil, R., Behling, C., Burch, M., Chan, D. C., Tillman, E. J., Zari, A., de Temple, B., Shringarpure, R., Jain, M., Rolph, T., Cheng, A., & Yale, K. (2025). Efruxifermin in compensated liver cirrhosis caused by MASH. The New England Journal of Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2502242