GE Healthcare and Takeda collaborate to develop drugs for liver diseases

Published: 12-Nov-2014

Through the use of a minimally invasive diagnostic technology


GE Healthcare and Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda have linked up to develop treatments for liver diseases.

Under this alliance, GE Healthcare will provide Takeda with its diagnostic imaging technology to generate a liver stiffness map as part of the research and development work Takeda is conducting on liver diseases. The collaborative effort aims to help develop therapeutic drugs as well as new diagnostic technologies for liver diseases.

Worldwide trends of ageing populations and less healthy lifestyles are contributing to the rise of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and over the past couple of decades, this and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) have become the leading cause of liver disease in developed countries. The prevalence of NAFLD has doubled during the last 20 years, whereas other chronic liver diseases have remained stable or have even decreased.

More recent data confirm that NAFLD and NASH play an equally important role in developing regions like the Middle East, Far East, Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Early diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis as well as the development of drugs to control the progression of liver disease have become important issues.

This alliance will assist efforts to develop new therapeutic options that ease the burden on the patient

The diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis is currently most commonly conducted by a liver biopsy, in which a needle is inserted through the skin into the liver, a sample of which is then removed for measurement.

With MR elastography commercialised by GE Healthcare, in use in the US since 2009 and in Japan since 2012, it has become possible to measure the relative stiffness of liver tissues in a non-invasive manner. It is expected that this kind of diagnostic technology will contribute to Takeda's efforts to develop innovative medicines.

Tadataka Yamada, Chief Medical & Scientific Officer at Takeda, said 'This alliance will assist efforts to develop new therapeutic options that ease the burden on the patient. Moving forward, we will continue to put the patient first and incorporate a wide range of innovations into the field of drug discovery.'

Akihiko Kumagai, Chairman of GE Healthcare Japan with overall responsibility for liver disease programs, added: 'Through this collaboration, our technologies will be of use in the development of treatments for the liver diseases that are of particular importance not just in Asia, but also worldwide.'

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