LIVERAIM: European researchers will conduct the largest trial ever in liver disease

Liver diseases account for 300,000 deaths in Europe each year. With support from the Innovative Health Initiative, a collaboration of researchers, biotechnology companies and the pharmaceutical industry aim to improve the lives and health of people with hidden liver disease by conducting the largest study ever on early detection of liver damage.

Cirrhosis and liver cancer pose a significant burden on healthcare systems, impacting quality of life, work productivity, and necessitating specialized medical care. The key risk factors for both cirrhosis and cancer include obesity, type 2 diabetes, and increased alcohol consumption—trends that are on the rise across Europe and globally. Unfortunately, these diseases often progress silently until severe symptoms and complications arise. While liver transplantation is an effective treatment, it is not universally accessible.

However, if liver disease is detected early, during the fibrosis stage, severe outcomes can be reversed and prevented. Enter the LIVERAIM project: a collaboration of renowned clinical centres and industrial partners, including SMEs, with expertise in Liver Disease. Their goal is to design and validate a screening platform with biomarkers for population-wide use in Europe. The objective? Early identification of liver disease and personalized therapeutic interventions.

Here’s how LIVERAIM works:

1. Biomarker Testing: Existing biomarkers will be evaluated for their accuracy in predicting fibrosis. This analysis will involve 30,000 plasma samples from previously H2020 EU-funded cohorts.
2. AI-Powered Screening Platform: Using Artificial Intelligence (AI), the partners will develop a screening platform for personalized early diagnosis of liver fibrosis.
3. Validation: The platform will be rigorously validated in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving 100,000 subjects from six representative EU countries.
4. Tailored Interventions: The platform will link to personalized therapeutic interventions, aiming to halt fibrosis progression.

By enabling early diagnosis and personalized interventions, LIVERAIM aims to reduce morbidity, mortality, and the associated economic and health inequities related to liver disease.

This project is supported by the Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking (IHI JU) under grant agreement No 101132901. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme and EFPIA, COCIR, MedTech Europe, Vaccines Europe and EuropaBio. Funded by the European Union, the private members, and those contributing partners of the IHI JU. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the aforementioned parties. Neither of the aforementioned parties can be held responsible for them.