Every year, liver disease kills more than 12,000 people in the UK (1) and over 52,000 in the US (2). The prognosis is often bleak.
Dr Kush Abeysekera, hepatologist and Principal Investigator on the EMERALD trial of Resolution Therapeutics’ RTX001 at Bristol Royal Infirmary, explains why.
Once liver disease “decompensates” — when the organ can no longer perform its essential functions — 50% of patients die within a year (3).
Right now, a liver transplant is the only disease-modifying option. Yet only 3% of these patients receive one (4) — donor organs are scarce, and many patients aren’t well enough to survive the surgery.
This is the reality for patients with advanced liver disease today. It’s why we believe this field needs radical thinking, not incremental change.
Resolution Therapeutics is developing RTX001, an engineered Regenerative Macrophage Therapy, as a potential alternative to liver transplant — aiming to give patients both more life, and a better one.
This is the first in a short video series on regenerative medicine in liver disease, running throughout August. Next: how regenerative macrophage therapy works, and why we think it matters.