Liver disease treatments

Liver cirrhosis kills more than a million people a year^*. More than 650 million people around the world suffer from chronic liver disease, costing economies €15.8 billion annually^**.

Yaqrit Discovery Limited is developing a family of liver disease treatments that will transform the lives of these patients.

Today, there are few options for treatment. Antibiotics and laxatives, which target gut bacteria and bacterial products, or a liver transplant are the standards of care. The drawbacks of widespread antibiotic use are well-known, and waiting lists for transplants are long – in the UK, for example, 30% of patients on the waiting list have been there for more than two years^***.

^* Blachier, M., et al., The burden of liver disease in Europe: a review of available epidemiological data. J Hepatol, 2013. 58(3): p. 593-608.

^** Lozano, R., et al., Global and regional mortality from 235 causes of death for 20 age groups in 1990 and 2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet, 2012. 380(9859): p. 2095-128.

^*** https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/news-and-campaigns/news/nhs-blood-and-transplant-reveals-nearly-49-000-people-in-the-uk-have-had-to-wait-for-a-transplant-in-the-last-decade/

We are a spinout from University College London, and what we do is based on 20 years of research by Professor Rajiv Jalan and his team at UCL’s Royal Free Hospital campus.

Our technologies have already won €12.3 million of grants from the European Union Horizon 2020 programme. Phase II clinical trials started in 2017.