On April 15, 2024 Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSE American: CANF) (TASE: CANF), a biotechnology company advancing a pipeline of proprietary small molecule drugs that address oncological and inflammatory diseases, reported that Biomedicines published an article titled "Namodenoson at the Crossroad of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis (MASH) and Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)" (Press release, Can-Fite BioPharma, APR 15, 2024, View Source [SID1234642066]). Biomedicines is a highly reputable journal that publishes articles on clinical and basic science topics in medicine. View Source

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The article’s first author, Dr. Ohad Etzion, is a renowned key opinion leader (KOL) in the Hepatology field and is the engine for some of the novel drugs under development for the treatment of MASH and additional liver diseases. Dr. Etzion is the Head, Department of Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, at Soroka University Medical Center, Beer Sheva, Israel.

The Biomedicines article presents the pre-clinical and clinical activity of Namodenoson and the mechanism of action through which the drug induces the anti-cancer activity and at the same time the liver protective effects. This dual activity enables the drug to have positive effects in both liver cancer and MASH.

Currently, Namodenoson is being evaluated in LiverationTM, a pivotal Phase III study for advanced liver cancer that has been approved by both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and also in a Phase IIb study in patients with MASH.

"We are very much encouraged by the clinical data from the Phase II study in HCC and the Phase IIa study in MASH. The drug mechanism of action which is presented in the manuscript and entails inflammatory cytokine inhibition together with the stimulation of positive cytokines, position Namodenoson as a promising safe drug," stated Dr. Etzion.

About Namodenoson

Namodenoson is a small orally bioavailable drug that binds with high affinity and selectivity to the A3 adenosine receptor (A3AR). Namodenoson was evaluated in Phase II trials for two indications, as a second line treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma, and as a treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). A3AR is highly expressed in diseased cells whereas low expression is found in normal cells. This differential effect accounts for the excellent safety profile of the drug.