After gaining a big backer in Eli Lilly & Co. two years ago, Terns Pharmaceuticals now has two NASH candidates in clinical trials. The startup, headquartered in Foster City, Calif., recently raised $87 million to push forward in a competitive market.
Currently, no drugs have been approved by the FDA for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis — a form of fatty liver disease that can cause inflammation, and over the long term, can lead to scarring of the liver. After the Food and Drug Administration turned down a long-anticipated NASH drug from Intercept Pharmaceuticals, and Genfit’s candidate flopped in phase III clinical trials, the field is open for the competition.
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Terns said it will use the proceeds of its series C round to advance clinical trials of its three NASH candidates.
The furthest along is TERN-101, a liver-directed non-bile acid farnesoid X receptor (FXR) agonist. Terns currently has 96 patients enrolled in a 12-week, placebo-controlled Phase IIa study of the treatment, and it expects to share top-line data in the second half of 2021.
This year, it also plans to start a Phase Ib trial of its second candidate, TERN-201, a vascular adhesion protein (VAP-1) inhibitor, with top-line data expected in the first half of 2022.
Terns plans to bring a third candidate into the clinic this year, TERN-501, a thyroid hormone receptor (THR) beta agonist. In addition, it plans to launch a combination trial of this treatment in conjunction with TERN-101 in 2022, a company spokesperson wrote in an email.
Terns was founded just three years ago, receiving an early investment from Lilly Asia Ventures and licensing three NASH candidates from the drugmaker. Eli Lilly returned as a backer in its most recent funding round, which was led by Deerfield Management Company. As part of deal, Deerfield Partner Elise Wang joined the company’s board of directors.
“We are impressed by the experienced team at Terns and their strategy of improving upon known mechanisms with differentiated molecules that have the potential to be used as foundational treatments in NASH,” Wang said in a news release.
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