Madrigal Pharmaceuticals secures global rights to Pfizer's ervogastat

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) announced it has entered into an exclusive global license agreement with Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) for ervogastat (formerly PF-06865571), an oral diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2 (DGAT-2) inhibitor currently in Phase 2 development, as well as rights to two additional early-stage metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) assets.

Under the terms of the agreement, Madrigal paid Pfizer an upfront fee of $50 million, which will be recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Pfizer is eligible to receive additional milestone payments tied to clinical, regulatory, and commercial achievements, along with tiered royalties on future net sales.

Ervogastat has demonstrated promising Phase 2 results, including MRI-based proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF) reductions of ≥30% liver fat in 72% of patients and ≥50% in 61% of patients, supporting its potential as a complementary mechanism in MASH treatment.

Madrigal plans to initiate a drug-interaction study of ervogastat in combination with its approved therapy Rezdiffra (resmetirom) in 2026, followed by consultation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the design of a potential Phase 2 combination trial.

The company views the addition of ervogastat as a strategic enhancement to its MASH franchise, aiming to explore synergistic effects on liver fat reduction, inflammation, and fibrosis progression in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.