Galmed Announces Acceptance of a Late-Breaking Abstract to be Presented at HEP-DART 2025 Meeting

Rhea-AI Summary

Galmed (NASDAQ: GLMD) announced a late-breaking abstract presentation at HEP-DART 2025 for Aramchol titled "Targeting SCD1 enhances activity of standard of care regorafenib in hepatocellular carcinoma." The poster will be presented on December 9, 2025 at 3:00 PM HST. Galmed reports preclinical data showing SCD1 inhibition augments regorafenib (Stivarga) activity via ATM-AMPK-autophagy signaling, providing translational rationale for a planned Phase 1/2 trial of Aramchol plus regorafenib in HCC and other GI cancers with enrollment planned to start in 2026. Galmed also plans a Phase 2 dose-expansion cohort to evaluate adding metformin to the combination.

Key Figures

Presentation date/time December 9, 3pm (HST) HEP-DART 2025 late-breaking abstract poster session

Planned trial phase Phase 1/2 Planned clinical trial of Aramchol plus regorafenib in HCC and GI cancers

Planned enrollment start 2026 Investigator-initiated Phase 1/2 trial at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer

Conference year 2025 HEP-DART 2025 Meeting late-breaking abstract acceptance

Market Reality Check

$1.12 Last Close

Volume Volume 234,975 vs 20-day avg 6,302,361 (relative volume 0.04) indicates limited pre-news participation. low

Technical Price 1.12 is trading below 200-day MA at 1.54, reflecting a prior downtrend.

Peers on Argus 1 Up

GLMD was down 1.75% pre-news while close biotech peers were mixed: several (e.g., CYCN, APRE, DWTX, VYNE) were down, but TSBX was up 1.4%. Momentum scanner only flagged AEON up 7.16%, suggesting this headline was more stock-specific than part of a broad sector move.

Historical Context

Date	Event	Sentiment	Move	Catalyst
Dec 04	Patent grant	Positive	+6.5%	New-use patent extends Aramchol combination protection for MASH and liver fibrosis.
Dec 01	Shareholder letter	Positive	+3.7%	CEO outlined cash position, Phase 3 data and upcoming MASH/oncology trials.
Nov 26	Quarterly results	Positive	+12.4%	Q3 update with ~$19.2M cash, higher R&D, and multiple financings in 2025.
Nov 18	Phase 1 data	Positive	+3.8%	AM-001 Phase 1 showed 3–5x higher bioavailability vs. prior Aramchol tablets.
Nov 17	Oncology MoA results	Positive	+1.0%	Three-drug combo with Aramchol, Stivarga and metformin enhanced GI tumor cell killing.

Pattern Detected

Recent GLMD news, especially around Aramchol clinical and patent progress, has generally coincided with positive next-day price reactions.

Recent Company History

Over the last month, GLMD has repeatedly highlighted progress for Aramchol: new-use patents through July 2042, a shareholder letter detailing about $19.2M cash and Phase 3/Phase 2 plans, Q3 2025 results with increased R&D, enhanced bioavailability data from the AM‑001 Phase 1 study, and synergistic oncology mechanism-of-action findings with regorafenib and metformin. Today’s HEP‑DART late‑breaking abstract acceptance and planned Phase 1/2 trial align with this ongoing shift toward oncology indications and combination strategies.

Market Pulse Summary

This announcement highlights acceptance of a late-breaking abstract at HEP-DART 2025 and a Phase 1/2 investigator-initiated trial combining Aramchol with regorafenib in advanced GI cancers, including HCC, with enrollment planned for 2026. It builds directly on prior preclinical synergy data and Galmed’s broader Aramchol program. Investors may watch for clinical initiation, early safety and activity signals, and updates on how oncology efforts integrate with existing MASH and fibrosis plans.

Key Terms

scd1 medical

"Targeting SCD1 enhances activity of standard of care regorafenib"

SCD1 is an enzyme that acts like a factory machine inside cells, converting certain solid fats into softer, more usable fats that influence energy storage, cell membranes, and signaling. Investors pay attention because drugs or diagnostics that block or measure SCD1 activity are pursued for conditions such as metabolic disease, cancer and skin disorders; success or failure in clinical trials, safety issues, or regulatory decisions around SCD1-targeted therapies can materially affect company value.

AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.

Late Breaking Abstract titled "Targeting SCD1 enhances activity of standard of care regorafenib in hepatocellular carcinoma: translational rationale for a phase 1/2 study of the combination of Aramchol and regorafenib" to be presented with a poster on December 9 at 3pm (HST).

RAMAT-GAN, Israel, Dec. 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (NASDAQ: GLMD) ("Galmed" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company for liver, cardiometabolic diseases and GI oncological therapeutics, announced the presentation of a late breaking abstract for its lead drug candidate, Aramchol at HEP-DART 2025 Meeting.

Previously, Galmed announced that Aramchol significantly enhances Bayer's regorafenib effect in GI cancer models to kill GI tumor cells. SCD1 inhibition augments regorafenib (Stivarga^®) activity through ATM-AMPK-autophagy signaling. These findings provide the scientific and translational rationale for the initiation of a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of the combination of standard of care regorafenib with the SCD1 inhibitor Aramchol in HCC and other GI cancers. Once a recommended Phase 2 dose is found, Galmed plans to add a dose expansion cohort that will include Metformin and will evaluate the 3-drugs' combination efficacy.

"The acceptance of our late-breaking abstract to the HEP-DART prestigious scientific meeting underscores the significance of our data. The research work presented has directly informed VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer's decision to initiate an investigator-initiated Phase 1/2 clinical trial of Aramchol and regorafenib in advanced GI cancers, including HCC, with planned enrollment starting in 2026. Positive findings would not only lay the groundwork for subsequent accelerated clinical development of Aramchol in key three GI cancers, but could potentially expand Galmed's oncology pipeline and create value for investors and stakeholders" said Allen Baharaff, CEO of Galmed Pharmaceuticals.

About HEP-DART

HEP-DART started in 1995 as the "FIRST International Conference on Therapies for Viral Hepatitis." Since its inception in 1995, HEP-DART has provided a cutting-edge platform for tackling challenges in drug development for viral hepatitis and chronic liver disease. The aim of HEP-DART 2025 is to assemble clinicians, researchers, and physician together to advance our knowledge of the ongoing drug development processes in the treatment of viral hepatitis, fibrosis, Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis MASH), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to provide the scientific community with an increased understanding of the current and future challenges in therapeutics for liver infection, disease and cancer.

About Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd.:

We are a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of Aramchol. We have focused almost exclusively on developing Aramchol for the treatment of liver diseases, and continue to actively advance Aramchol for the treatment of combination therapy for NASH. We are also seeking to develop Aramchol for certain oncological indications outside of NASH and fibrosis. In addition, as part of our growth strategy, we are actively pursuing opportunities to expand and diversify our product pipeline specifically targeting cardiometabolic indications and other innovative product candidates that align with our core expertise in drug development.

Forward-Looking Statements:

Forward-looking statements relate to anticipated or expected events, activities, trends or results as of the date they are made. Because forward-looking statements relate to matters that have not yet occurred, these statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the potential synergistic effect of Aramchol, Stivarga^® and Metformin as a new fixed-dose combination treatment, the expected timing of clinical trials, future clinical development and creating value for investors and stakeholders. Many factors could cause our actual activities or results to differ materially from the activities and results anticipated in forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the development and approval of the use of Aramchol or any other product candidate for indications outside of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, also known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, and fibrosis or in combination therapy; the timing and cost of any pre-clinical or clinical trials of Aramchol or any other product candidate we develop; completion and receiving favorable results of any pre-clinical or clinical trial; regulatory action with respect to Aramchol or any other product candidate by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA, or the European Medicines Authority, or EMA, including but not limited to acceptance of an application for marketing authorization, review and approval of such application, and, if approved, the scope of the approved indication and labeling; the commercial launch and future sales of Aramchol and any future product candidates; our ability to comply with all applicable post-market regulatory requirements for Aramchol, or any other product candidate in the countries in which we seek to market the product; our ability to achieve favorable pricing for Aramchol, or any other product candidate; third-party payor reimbursement for Aramchol, or any other product candidate; our estimates regarding anticipated capital requirements and our needs for additional financing; market adoption of Aramchol or any other product candidate by physicians and patients; the timing, cost or other aspects of the commercial launch of Aramchol or any other product candidate; our ability to obtain and maintain adequate protection of our intellectual property; the possibility that we may face third-party claims of intellectual property infringement; our ability to manufacture our product candidates in commercial quantities, at an adequate quality or at an acceptable cost; our ability to establish adequate sales, marketing and distribution channels; intense competition in our industry, with competitors having substantially greater financial, technological, research and development, regulatory and clinical, manufacturing, marketing and sales, distribution and personnel resources than we do; our expectations regarding licensing, acquisitions and strategic operations; current or future unfavorable economic and market conditions and adverse developments with respect to financial institutions and associated liquidity risk; our ability to maintain the listing of our ordinary shares on The Nasdaq Capital Market; the security, political and economic instability in the Middle East that could harm our business, including due to the current security situation in Israel, risks relating to our digital asset management strategy, including the highly volatile nature of the price of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, the risk that our share price may be highly correlated to the price of the cryptocurrencies and other digital assets that we may hold, risks related to increased competition in the industries in which we do and will operate, risks relating to significant legal, commercial, regulatory and technical uncertainty regarding cryptocurrencies and other digital assets generally, risks relating to the treatment of crypto assets for U.S. and foreign tax purposes and those risks and uncertainties identified in Exhibit 99.2 to our Report of Foreign Private Issuer on Form 6-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on August 25, 2025. We believe these forward-looking statements are reasonable; however, these statements are only current predictions and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements. We discuss many of these risks in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on April 2, 2025 in greater detail under the heading "Risk Factors." Given these uncertainties, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf speak only as of the date hereof and are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements included in this report. We undertake no obligations to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. In evaluating forward-looking statements, you should consider these risks and uncertainties.

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FAQ

When and where will Galmed (GLMD) present the late-breaking Aramchol poster at HEP-DART 2025?

The poster will be presented on December 9, 2025 at 3:00 PM HST at the HEP-DART 2025 meeting.

What preclinical finding did Galmed (GLMD) report about Aramchol and regorafenib?

Galmed reported that SCD1 inhibition with Aramchol enhances regorafenib activity via ATM-AMPK-autophagy signaling in GI cancer models.

What clinical trial does Galmed (GLMD) plan after the HEP-DART data?

Galmed plans a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of Aramchol combined with regorafenib in HCC and other GI cancers, with enrollment planned in 2026.

Will Galmed (GLMD) test any additional drugs with Aramchol and regorafenib in the trial?

Yes; after a recommended Phase 2 dose is identified, Galmed plans a dose-expansion cohort that will include metformin to evaluate a three-drug combination.

How does the HEP-DART acceptance affect Galmed's oncology development plans (GLMD)?

The late-breaking acceptance supports the translational rationale for initiating the planned Phase 1/2 trial and may accelerate investigator-initiated enrollment starting in 2026.

Who is leading the investigator-initiated trial mentioned by Galmed (GLMD)?

VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer is reported to initiate the investigator-initiated Phase 1/2 trial of Aramchol and regorafenib in advanced GI cancers.