Inventiva is going all-in on its metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) drug lanifibranor —but half of its employees won’t be coming along for the ride.
A phase 3 trial of lanifibranor, a pan-PPAR agonist, in patients with MASH and liver fibrosis is ongoing. But with the 96.6 million euros ($99.6 million) the French biotech entered the year with set to run out in the third quarter, Inventiva is on the hunt for ways to preserve cash.
As a result, the company has informed its workers council that it will be halving its head count as it focuses exclusively on lanifibranor. It means all preclinical work not tied to this lead asset will be discontinued. Inventiva had previously been working on a preclinical oncology program looking at disrupting the YAP-TEAD interaction that occurs along the Hippo signaling pathway as well as an idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis program.
Instead, the biotech will be expanding the team tasked with preparing for potential approval filings and the hoped-for commercialization of lanifibranor for MASH.
Combined with a second tranche of structured financing and an expected $10 million milestone payment from Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group—which owns the Chinese rights to lanifibranor—Inventiva thinks the restructuring announced yesterday should keep the lights on into the third quarter of 2026.
Top-line results from the phase 3 NATiV3 trial of lanifibranor in MASH are due in the second half of that year. Inventiva paused enrolling new patients a year ago after one participant experienced raised enzyme levels but has since restarted recruitment.