"Payers Are Wary as First NASH Drugs May Hit U.S. Market Soon" - Judy Packer-Tursman
Doctors trying to treat patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis — a serious type of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease that, if left untreated, may progress to cardiovascular disease, cirrhosis, cancer and possibly the need for a liver transplant — soon may have new options in their arsenal beyond promoting exercise and diet. The first-ever NASH drugs are expected to hit the U.S. market as early as 2020 to help address this increasingly prevalent, complex disease spawned largely by the obesity epidemic and surge of type 2 diabetes in the U.S. “There’s no question [the drugs will help — in combination with diet and exercise,” said Douglas Dieterich, MD, director of the Institute for Liver Medicine at the Mount Sinai Health System. He added, “It will have to be the whole package.”
— Douglas Dieterich, MD, Professor, Medicine, Division of Liver Diseases, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Director, Institute of Liver Medicine, Mount Sinai Health System