A new fatty liver disease drug could be the first drug to be able to treat the disease.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are liver diseases that cause fat accumulation in the liver.

NASH is a severe liver disease that is caused by inflammation and build of fat. NASH affects about 2 to 5 percent of Americans. An additional 10 to 30 percent of the population have fat in their liver but with no inflammation or liver damage.

NASH most often occurs in persons who are middle aged and overweight. Progression of NASH and fatty liver can lead to liver cirrhosis, fibrosis, liver cancer, liver failure and death due to liver disease.

To date, there is no approved drug treatment by the FDA to treat the disease.

Gemphire Therapeutics Inc. has recently announced that their drug gemcabene had showed compelling preclinical data results.

In 2017, Gemphire plans to initiate clinical development of gemcabene. The drug potentially can be used to lower triglycerides and inflammation which leads to scarring of the liver.

The clinical study of the effects of gemcabene was conducted on a widely used STAM mouse model. Diabetic mice were fed high-fat diet and rapidly developed fatty liver disease. When administered gemcabene, prevention of liver disease progression was observed.

Liver fibrosis or scarring was also significantly reduced when gemcabene was administered also markers for inflammation was significantly reduced as reported in an article by the Public.

Mina Sooch, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gemphire, states states that they are delight to share the results of the preclinical study showing exciting proof of concept data. Gemcabene had anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory features.

According to Dr. Charles L Bisgaier, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Gemphire, there is an urgent need for safe pharmacologic treatment to prevent or regress the progression of liver damage and scarring as reported by ForexTV.