Inventiva announces the design of LEGEND, a Phase IIa combination trial with lanifibranor and SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin in patients with NASH and type 2 diabetes

• The LEGEND trial is a proof-of-concept Phase IIa clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of lanifibranor in combination with the sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor empagliflozin (Jardiance®¹) in patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and type 2 diabetes (T2D)
• The trial will be conducted in several sites in the United States and Europe with a treatment duration of 24 weeks, and a total enrollment target of 63 patients with T2D and non-cirrhotic NASH
• The initiation of the trial is planned for H1 2022 and the publication of topline results is expected for H2 2023

Daix (France), Long Island City (New York, United States), October 27, 2021 – Inventiva (Euronext Paris and Nasdaq: IVA), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of oral small molecule therapies for the treatment of NASH, mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) and other diseases with significant unmet medical needs, today announced the design of a proof-of-concept
Phase IIa combination trial with its lead drug candidate lanifibranor and the SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin in patients with T2D and non-cirrhotic NASH.

LEGEND (Lanifibranor in combination with the SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin in patients with NASH and type 2 diabetes ) trial has been designed as a multi-center randomized, placebo-controlled proof-of-concept Phase IIa trial to assess the safety and efficacy of lanifibranor in combination with the SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin for the treatment of patients with non-cirrhotic NASH and T2D. The trial is double-blind for the placebo and lanifibranor  arms and open-label for the combination of lanifibranor and empagliflozin arm.

The primary efficacy endpoint of the trial is a change in Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) at the end of the 24-week treatment compared to baseline. Secondary endpoints include changes in liver enzymes, glycaemic and lipids parameters, inflammatory markers and body fat composition. The trial is designed to provide valuable information on body weight evolution and body fat composition in patients with NASH and T2D when treated with lanifibranor and empagliflozin. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) will in addition allow to collect non-invasive data on hepatic fat, inflammation and fibrosis.

A total of 63 patients with non-cirrhotic NASH  and T2D will be randomized into the trial, in several sites in the United States and Europe. The diagnosis of non-cirrhotic NASH will be based on historic histology evaluation or a combination of non-invasive methods including imaging and serum-based metabolic diagnostic tests ("probable NASH”). The initiation of the trial is planned for the first half of 2022 and the publication of top line results is expected for the second half of 2023.

Pierre Broqua, Chief Scientist Officer and cofounder of Inventiva, stated: "We are delighted to announce the design of our proof-of-concept trial to evaluate the combination therapy of lanifibranor and empagliflozin. Given the complexity of NASH, the heterogeneity of patients and the results of  our Phase IIb trial with lanifibranor in NASH, it is possible that a combination with empagliflozin could further improve the therapeutic effects of lanifibranor on markers of cardiometabolic health.”

The LEGEND trial will also be part of a dedicated Key Opinion Leader (KOL) webcast focused on NASH and hosted by Inventiva on November 19, 2021 on the sidelines of the AASLD The Liver Meeting® 2021. This event can be followed both live and on-demand on Inventiva’s website in the "Investors – Investor Presentations” section at: http://inventivapharma.com/investors/investor-presentations/.

About lanifibranor

Lanifibranor, Inventiva’s lead product candidate, is an orally-available small molecule that acts to induce anti-fibrotic, anti-inflammatory and beneficial vascular and metabolic changes in the body by activating all three peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) isoforms, which are well-characterized nuclear receptor proteins that regulate gene expression. Lanifibranor is a PPAR agonist that is designed to target all three PPAR isoforms in a moderately potent manner, with a well-balanced activation of PPARa and PPARd, and a partial activation of PPAR?. While there are other PPAR agonists that target only one or two PPAR isoforms for activation, lanifibranor is the only pan-PPAR agonist in clinical development for the treatment of NASH. Inventiva believes that lanifibranor’s moderate and balanced pan-PPAR binding profile contributes to the favorable tolerability profile that has been observed in clinical trials and pre-clinical studies to date. The FDA has granted Breakthrough Therapy and Fast Track designation to lanifibranor for the treatment of NASH.

About Inventiva

Inventiva is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of oral small molecule therapies for the treatment of NASH, MPS and other diseases with significant unmet medical need.

Leveraging its expertise and experience in the domain of compounds targeting nuclear receptors, transcription factors and epigenetic modulation, Inventiva is currently advancing two clinical candidates, as well as a deep pipeline of preclinical programs.

Lanifibranor, its lead product candidate, is being developed for the treatment of patients with NASH, a common and progressive chronic liver disease for which there are currently no approved therapies. In 2020, Inventiva announced positive topline data from its Phase IIb clinical trial evaluating lanifibranor for the treatment of patients with NASH and obtained both FDA Breakthrough Therapy and Fast Track designation for lanifibranor in the treatment of NASH. Lanifibranor is currently being evaluated in a pivotal Phase III clinical trial.

Inventiva is also developing odiparcil, a second clinical stage asset, for the treatment of patients with subtypes of MPS, a group of rare genetic disorders. Inventiva announced positive topline data from its Phase IIa clinical trial evaluating odiparcil for the treatment of adult MPS VI patients in 2019 and received both FDA Fast Track and Rare Paediatric Disease designation for odiparcil in MPS VI.

In parallel, Inventiva is in the process of selecting an oncology development candidate for its Hippo signalling pathway program. Furthermore, the Company has established a strategic collaboration with AbbVie in the area of autoimmune diseases. AbbVie has started the clinical development of ABBV-157, a drug candidate for the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis resulting from its collaboration with Inventiva. This collaboration enables Inventiva to receive milestone payments upon the achievement of pre-clinical, clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, in addition to royalties on any approved products resulting from the collaboration.

The Company has a scientific team of approximately 70 people with deep expertise in the fields of biology, medicinal and computational chemistry, pharmacokinetics and pharmacology, as well as in clinical development. It also owns an extensive library of approximately 240,000 pharmacologically relevant molecules, approximately 60% of which are proprietary, as well as a wholly-owned research and development facility.

Inventiva is a public company listed on compartment C of the regulated market of Euronext Paris (ticker: IVA - ISIN: FR0013233012) and on the Nasdaq Global Market in the United States (ticker: IVA). www.inventivapharma.com.

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Please refer to the Universal Registration Document for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers on March 15, 2021, the Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 15, 2021 as well as the half-year financial report for the six months ended June 30, 2021 for additional information in relation to such factors, risks and uncertainties.

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¹Empaglifozin is marketed under the brand name Jardiance^® by Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company. Jardiance is approved for treating type 2 diabetes and reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease for adults with type 2 diabetes. Lilly reported Jardiance^® global sales of $1.15 billion in 2020, while Boehringer posted worldwide Jardiance^®sales of €2.48 billion. (Source: Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim 2020 annual reports).

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• Inventiva - PR - Design lanifibranor and SGTL2 - EN - 27 10 2021