Hoth Therapeutics signs VA research deal to advance GDNF in obesity, fatty liver

Hoth Therapeutics (HOTH) announced a CRADA – Cooperative Research and Development Agreement – with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Foundation for Atlanta Veterans Education and Research – FAVER – to evaluate GDNF – glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor – as a novel metabolic therapy targeting obesity and hepatic steatosis, or fatty liver disease. The study, conducted at the Atlanta VA Medical Center, will benchmark daily GDNF injections against semaglutide in both standard diet-induced obese mice and human liver chimeric mouse models, a gold-standard translational platform. Under the agreement, Hoth will fund the study and will supply GDNF while the VA retains data rights and shares de-identified results per HIPAA-compliant CRADA terms. GDNF has demonstrated the ability to reduce body weight and hepatic lipid accumulation in prior transgenic models, enhance insulin sensitivity and promote fatty acid oxidation, show clinical safety in previous human trials.