MetaVia Inc. (NASDAQ:MTVA) experienced a significant stock surge of 35% on Friday, recovering from a profit-taking phase observed on Thursday. The surge is attributed to the publication of peer-reviewed research confirming the efficacy of its drug vanoglipel (DA-1241) in the treatment of liver fibrosis. The study, published in the journal Biomolecules & Therapeutics, demonstrated that GPR119 agonists effectively reduce liver fibrosis. CEO Hyung Heon Kim highlighted that patients treated with vanoglipel showed statistically significant reductions in ALT levels and improvements in liver fibrosis measurements after a 16-week treatment period.

MetaVia is actively pursuing a clinical-stage biotechnology pipeline focused on cardiometabolic diseases, with vanoglipel targeting Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis (MASH) and ongoing development of DA-1726, aimed at obesity. The stock is currently trading well above its short- and intermediate-term trend gauges, sitting 144.4% above the 20-day simple moving average (SMA) and 155.7% above the 50-day SMA, indicating strong upward momentum despite being 36.9% below the 200-day SMA. As of Friday, MTVA shares were priced at $3.88.