Akero Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for serious metabolic liver diseases. Headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company is best known for its work in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), also referred to as metabolic dysfunction–associated steatohepatitis (MASH). Akero is listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker AKRO.
Akero’s lead program is efruxifermin (EFX), a long-acting analogue of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) designed to address key drivers of NASH/MASH by improving metabolic regulation and reducing liver fat, inflammation, and fibrosis. EFX has been evaluated in mid- and late-stage clinical studies for patients with moderate to advanced fibrosis and for those with compensated cirrhosis due to NASH/MASH. The company’s R&D efforts center on endocrine pathways with the goal of delivering disease-modifying treatments for metabolic liver conditions.