Throughout the month of July, Surfing NASH embarks on a series of episodes dedicated to takeaways emerging from a busy last few weeks at both the 2023 EASL Congress in Vienna and the American Diabetes Association’s 83rd Scientific Sessions meeting in San Diego.
This first installment comprises two distinct 1:1 interviews with Tsunami co-host Roger Green, one with key opinion leader Mazen Noureddin and the other with co-host Jörn Schattenberg.
The first conversation with Mazen begins with an illustrative new metaphor in which the NASH therapeutic landscape is likened to the game Monopoly. In “NASH Monopoly,” each street or monopoly presents a mechanisms of action. The two most expensive streets to GLP-1s and FGF-21s. He goes on to commend and describe the promise of GLP-1s and the double and triple agents in development as leading to such significant weight loss that some question the need for bariatric procedures altogether. The conversation also covers some issues around non-invasive testing, nomenclature changes and how emerging drug classes will increase options — and complexity — for prescribers.
The second conversation includes two of the podcast’s co-hosts, Jörn and Roger. For the most part, the focus stays on drug development issues. Jörn’s first note underscores growing points of intersection between different fields concerned with managing metabolic dysfunction and how different toolkits might make positive impact on liver health. Roger switches the metaphor of Monopoly to a new description of the developing therapeutic landscape akin to a desert where mirages present as promising drugs and “any drink of water is as good as any other drink.” As conversation continues, Jörn and Roger expound on the subject of new nomenclature and what this will mean for different stakeholders.
The two conversations with Mazen and Jörn explore different perspectives around the complexities associated with drug development and the wider field’s understanding of Steatotic Liver Disease (SLD). If you have any questions or comments around these meetings, the discussed therapeutics or the new nomenclature, we kindly ask that you submit reviews wherever you download the discourse. Alternatively, you can write to us directly at questions@SurfingNASH.com.
