Travere Therapeutics Inc. inked a licensing deal with Tokyo-based Renalys Pharma Inc. to develop sparsentan in 13 Asian countries, becoming the latest news to heat up the immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) therapy space.

Seoul-based Genexine Inc. filed a BLA to gain domestic approval of its follow-on biologic for chronic kidney disease (CKD)-induced anemia, Efesa (efepoetin alfa, GX-E4), to South Korean health regulators on Jan. 25.

Using interactions between viral peptides and human proteins as a starting point, researchers from Enyo Pharma Inc., the University of Lyon and other institutions were able to bootstrap themselves to a mitochondria-targeting small molecule that showed activity in a mouse model of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) with chronic kidney disease.