Victoria Johnson joined the MJH Life Sciences in 2020 and has written for NeurologyLive, CGTLive, and now HCPLive. You can reach her at vjohnson@mjhlifesciences.com

Victoria Johnson

The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) The Liver Meeting 2025 kicks off in Washington, DC, on Friday, November 7, 2025. The 5-day conference boasts the latest research shaping the future of hepatology, including groundbreaking studies, clinical insights, and innovations from investigators around the world.

 editorial team will be on-site at the meeting, providing written coverage of practice-shifting data as well as interviews with key experts. You can keep up with our comprehensive conference coverage 

. Check out what can be expected from this year’s meeting below:

, who will discuss the quality-of-life impacts of hepatitis delta virus and the importance of raising awareness of its numerous physical and psychosocial impacts.

, who will review data on fazirsiran’s efficacy in early and advanced fibrosis in patients with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency-associated liver disease.

, who will discuss the clinical implications of no longer having obeticholic acid as a second-line treatment option in PBC and new data on the benefits of treatment with seladelpar.

, who will discuss findings from his research on the long-term benefits following hepatitis C virus treatment through facilitated telemedicine among people who use drugs.

There is a plethora of clinical trial data being presented at ACG 2025. 

 crafted a curated list of 5 trials to watch from the upcoming meeting:

Weight-dependent and independent effects of semaglutide in participants with MASH: secondary analysis of the phase 3 ESSENCE trial

Semaglutide was recently granted accelerated FDA approval as the second ever approved therapy for MASH.

In the 72-week interim analysis of the phase 3 ESSENCE trial, once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide 2.4 mg met its primary endpoint for superiority over placebo for histological outcomes and non-invasive tests. Investigators will present findings from a new secondary analysis of ESSENCE clarifying whether its therapeutic effects are fully dependent on weight loss and quantifying the magnitude of weight-dependent and weight-independent effects.

Long-term data of elafibranor in primary sclerosing cholangitis: Interim safety and efficacy data from the ongoing open-label extension of the ELMWOOD phase II trial

Background Info: In the double-blind period of the phase 2 ELMWOOD trial, elafibranor was well tolerated and improved biochemical markers of cholestasis in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis compared with placebo. At AASLD, investigators will report interim results up to 28 weeks of the ongoing ELMWOOD open-label extension.

Fazirsiran is effective in early and advanced fibrosis in patients with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency-associated liver disease

Fazirsiran, a GalNAc siRNA targeting misfolded alpha-1 antitrypsin in the liver, is in phase 3 development for AATD-associated liver disease. It selectively enters hepatocytes via the asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR; coded by 

 expression is altered in advanced fibrosis or if dense extracellular matrix in fibrotic tissue may restrict fazirsiran delivery to hepatocytes. Data being presented at AASLD assesses 

 expression across fibrosis stages and evaluates the impact of fibrosis on fazirsiran uptake and activity.

Volixibat leads to improvements in fatigue and sleep for adults with primary biliary cholangitis: Data from VANTAGE

A rare, autoimmune, cholestatic liver disease, PBC greatly impacts overall health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and can cause debilitating pruritus, fatigue, and sleep disturbances. To date, the symptom burden in PBC has been difficult to adequately treat. Volixibat, a minimally absorbed ileal bile acid transporter inhibitor, blocks the enterohepatic recirculation of bile acids. In the completed Part 1 (dose selection) of the VANTAGE study, treatment with volixibat resulted in statistically significant and clinically relevant improvements in pruritus. Data being presented at AASLD will explore its additional impact on fatigue and sleep.

Efruxifermin improved markers of portal hypertension as evaluated by Baveno VII criteria in compensated cirrhosis due to MASH: results from a 96-week, placebo-controlled, phase 2b trial (SYMMETRY)

In the SYMMETRY trial, efruxifermin, a bivalent FGF21 analog, improved fibrosis by histology in participants with compensated cirrhosis due to MASH. Notably, the presence of clinically significant portal hypertension in this population is associated with a high risk of hepatic decompensation. A secondary analysis of the trial being presented at AASLD uses non-invasive tests commonly deployed in clinical practice to assess the impact of efruxifermin treatment on presence of clinically significant portal hypertension and risk of hepatic decompensation.

Articles

The Liver Meeting 2025, hosted by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, will take place in Washington, DC, from November 7-11. The conference will feature cutting-edge research and clinical insights in hepatology. Key expert interviews will cover topics such as hepatitis delta virus, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, and hepatitis C treatment. Notable trials include studies on semaglutide for MASH, elafibranor for primary sclerosing cholangitis, fazirsiran for liver disease, volixibat for primary biliary cholangitis, and efruxifermin for portal hypertension in MASH-related cirrhosis.

View slated expert interviews and 5 clinical trials to watch at AASLD The Liver Meeting 2025.

Conference Preview: AASLD The Liver Meeting 2025

LEVI-04 Improves Pain, Function in Knee Osteoarthritis, with Philip Conaghan, MBBS, PhD

LEVI-04, a first-in-class p75 neurotrophin receptor-Fc fusion protein, has shown promising and clinically meaningful improvements in pain and physical function among patients with moderate-to-severe knee osteoarthritis (OA).

Findings from the multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial were presented by Philip Conaghan, MBBS, PhD, Director, NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre, and Professor of Musculoskeletal Medicine at University of Leeds at the 

American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Convergence 2025

, held October 24–29 in Chicago, Illinois.

The trial enrolled 518 adults with radiographically confirmed (Kellgren-Lawrence grade ≥2) and symptomatic knee OA (≥4/10 WOMAC and ≥4/10 average weekly pain). Participants were randomized to receive intravenous placebo or LEVI-04 at doses of 0.3, 1.0, or 2.0 mg/kg at baseline and every 4 weeks through week 16. The primary endpoint was change in WOMAC pain at week 17, with additional assessments of WOMAC function, stiffness, patient global assessment (PGA), and average weekly numerical rating scale (NRS) pain.

Across all doses, LEVI-04 achieved statistically significant improvements in WOMAC pain versus placebo, with effect sizes that met or exceeded those typically reported for NSAIDs. Improvements increased with higher doses, underscoring a dose-response relationship. Clinical meaningfulness was further supported by results from the Staircase-Evoked Pain Procedure (StEPP), a standardized measure of pain on movement. A greater proportion of participants treated with LEVI-04 achieved the minimum clinically important difference (MCID) of 2 points in the StEPP versus placebo, with statistical significance observed in the 1.0 and 2.0 mg/kg groups.

Phase 3 studies are now being planned to confirm the efficacy and safety of LEVI-04 and further evaluate its long-term impact on pain and functional outcomes in knee OA. 

 spoke with Conaghan to learn more about LEVI-04 and its potential advantages for people with osteoarthritis.

"What we see that more people on LEVI-04 for all 3 doses achieved a clinically relevant reduction in that step function. So in other words, they were able to do more steps. Their pain related to steps was reduced, and that's really important for osteoarthritis, which is a disease where all the pain is related to how much you walk," Conaghan said.

Conaghan's disclosures include AbbVie/Abbott, Alfasigma, Eli Lilly, Eupraxia, Formation Bio, Galapagos, Genascence, Grunenthal, Janssen, Kolon TissueGene, Levicept, Medipost, Moebius Medical, Novartis, Orion, Pacira, Sandoz, Stryker, and Takeda.

Conaghan P, Katz N, Bihlet A, et al. LEVI-04, a Novel Neurotrophin-3 Inhibitor, Demonstrates Clinically Meaningful Improvements in Pain and Physical Function across a Range of OA Outcomes, Including the Staircase-Evoked Pain Procedure (StEPP). Presented at: ACR Convergence 2025; October 24-29; Chicago, Illinois. Poster #2101

Videos

Conaghan discussed the potential of LEVI-04 for knee osteoarthritis at ACR 2025.

Revealing the Link Between Lupus Disease Activity and Cognition, With Carla Marie Cuda, PhD

Cognitive impairment, as measured on the National Institutes of Health Toolbox for Assessment of Neurological and Behavioral Function, correlated with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) scores in new research that brings attention to quality of life issues in people with SLE.

, held October 24–29 in Chicago, Illinois, by Carla Marie Cuda, PhD, Solovy/Arthritis Research Society Research Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology) at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine.

Cuda and colleagues assessed 22 female patients with SLE free of concurrent autoimmune or neurologic disease with a mean age of 33.8 years (standard deviation [SD], 11.8) and disease duration of 8.9 years (SD, 6.0). They found that patients with moderate-high disease activity scored lower on the Dimensional Change Card Sort and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Tests for executive function and delayed auditory-verbal memory, respectively, compared to those with inactive or low-moderate disease activity. Interestingly, low circulating complement C4 correlated with worse delayed auditory-verbal memory. The study validated the sensitivity of the NIHT as the clinically validated Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) did not reveal any differences between groups in the study.

 spoke with Cuda to learn more about the study and its findings. She shared some surprising observations made in the study that require further research, including hte link between circulating complement C4 correlated and auditory-verbal memory.

"I think the potential that, if you control [disease activity] that you can also improve someone's cognition would be very interesting, and especially if that then gets integrated into trials. A lot of these not-easily quantifiable symptoms are not being included necessarily for patients in clinical trials. So if that becomes a way in which to start to adjust for this and include patients and see if any of these drugs can actually impact cognition, would be amazing, and I think patients would want it, definitely," Cuda said.

Beiser S, Qureshi A, Safdar K, et al. Disease Activity Independently Correlates with Cognitive Impairment in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Lupus Disease Activity Correlates With Cognition, With Carla Marie Cuda, PhD

Credit: Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine

, held October 24–29 in Chicago, Illinois, by Carla Marie Cuda, PhD, Solovy/Arthritis Research Society Research Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology) at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. 

Cuda and colleagues assessed 22 female patients with SLE free of concurrent autoimmune or neurologic disease with a mean age of 33.8 years (standard deviation [SD], 11.8) and disease duration of 8.9 years (SD, 6.0). They found that patients with moderate-high disease activity scored lower on the Dimensional Change Card Sort and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Tests for executive function and delayed auditory-verbal memory, respectively, compared to those with inactive or low-moderate disease activity. Notably, low circulating complement C4 correlated with worse delayed auditory-verbal memory. 

 spoke with Cuda to learn more about the rationale for the study and the potential of the NIHT to help measure cognitive impairment.

Can you give some background on this research and why you chose to look at mild cognitive impairment and disease activity in SLE?

So I have done most of my work in animals, but we were looking for a way to translate the work I've been been doing in that space into more patient oriented work at our translational program. So we are tapping into what I feel is really an underserved space of a spectrum of neuropsychiatric manifestations that occur and that there's plenty of others as well, but I feel like mild cognitive impairment is very difficult to diagnose, there aren't a lot of tools in order to assess that.

Current ways to assess cognition in the clinic space require for a physician to refer them to neuropsychological testing, but patients aren't often going to be pushed to that unless there's very overt signs that that type of assessment is required but that leaves behind then several categories that they are not getting visits for what I feel is a very important part of someone's daily life, and that really directly contributes to their quality of life. 

So what we had decided to do was with my cellular immunology background and in conjunction with a neuroimmunologist and neuropsychologist, several rheumatology clinicians, we developed this infrastructure in Northwestern where patients and do our study, we get a number of patient report outcomes: fatigue  pain interference, sleep disturbances, just to name a few, and then patients will also undergo cognitive assessments using the NIHT and then we also add blood serum, peripheral mononuclear cells, and then a fraction of patients we will get cerebrospinal fluid from as well. 

What advantages does the NIHT offer for assessing cognitive impairment in the study?

At our research institution, we have really esteemed researchers in the neuro realm, looking at long COVID and this NIH toolbox was being used and implemented in this way, and so we tried to capitalize on that, because other people at the university are utilizing this interactive platform. It's easily taken on an iPad and patients will undergo a composite of 5 tests that will signify certain domains of cognitions, processing speed, executive function, and then they also do an assessment of auditory verbal learning, as well as delayed recall of that. So those things just a nice, broad spectrum of domain testing to see if there's particular difficulties that will correspond to either clinical data, patient reported outcomes, and data that we can glean from the cells and fluids that we're collecting in our analyses.

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Beiser S, Qureshi A, Safdar K, et al. Disease Activity Independently Correlates with Cognitive Impairment in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. 

Research highlights a correlation between cognitive impairment and disease activity in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), emphasizing quality of life concerns. Presented at the ACR Convergence 2025, the study involved 22 female SLE patients, revealing that moderate-high disease activity is linked to poorer executive function and memory. Low complement C4 levels were associated with worse memory outcomes. The NIH Toolbox (NIHT) was utilized for cognitive assessment, offering a comprehensive evaluation of cognitive domains. This approach aims to address the underdiagnosed cognitive impairments in SLE, enhancing patient care and quality of life.

New research at ACR 2025 highlights the link between cognitive impairment and disease activity in SLE.