A-TANGO – An EU-funded clinical Phase II study gives cirrhosis patients new hope

FUERSTENFELDBRUCK, Germany - March 17, 2021 - PRLog --

• More than 10 million people worldwide suffer from decompensated cirrhosis, often as a result of severe alcoholic hepatitis (sAH) or other chronic liver diseases.
• In its final stages, decompensated cirrhosis leads to acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), a syndrome characterised by multi-organ failure. Effective treatment of ACLF is an urgent and unmet need.
• The A-TANGO consortium will perform Phase II clinical studies of an innovative therapeutic strategy that targets inflammation and improves liver regeneration. We call this novel combinatorial therapy "G-TAK".
• In addition, A-TANGO strives to identify reliable biomarkers for better patient stratification and selection for novel therapies.

G-TAK is an innovative, novel treatment strategy that combines the strengths of two biologically active ingredients and provides new hope for patients. Preclinical studies in rodent models of liver failure indicate an extremely high treatment efficacy for G-TAK, while clinical studies to determine the dosage, safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (how the body processes a drug) and pharmacodynamics (how a drug affects the body) of each of the two ingredients by itself have already been completed. A-TANGO now takes it to the next level by testing this novel combinatorial treatment, G-TAK, in a large, randomized, controlled Phase II clinical trial to determine its efficacy in sAH- and ACLF-patients across Europe. If G-TAK proves to be efficacious, conservative predictions indicate that A-TANGO has the potential to increase the survival rate of ACLF-patients by 20%. This would imply approximately 12,000 fewer patients on the waiting list for a liver transplant in Europe per year, about €60,000 savings per patient, and up to 720 million € savings with regard to health care costs in Europe each year. Another key goal of A-TANGO is increasing societal awareness, reducing stigmatisation and deepening scientific literacy regarding end-stage liver disease. The project's scientific coordinator, Prof Rajiv Jalan (MD, PhD), is the scientific director of the European Foundation for the Study of Chronic Liver Failure (EFCLIF) and the head of the liver failure group at University College London (UCL). Hepatologist Dr. med. Cornelius Engelmann (Charité) spearheads the clinical trial as principal investigator, and concentris research management gmbh manages the project and communicates its progress to the public. The consortium consists of 14 European institutions. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 945096. This press release reflects only the view of the authors, and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
https://a-tango.eu/