Opening session

Sunday, 14 June 2026 – 16:15 – 17:30 – Congress hall

Intro

This year we are celebrating that more drugs have been approved which halt fibrosis progression and even reverse fibrosis, and that more are under development. The session will feature keynotes focusing on the clinical aspects of fibrosis and on the molecular mechanisms behind it, showing how the field has changed over the last ten years. This will set the scene for the coming days.

Keynote: Celebrating the era of antifibrotics 

Maya Thiele, Professor and Physician at Center for Liver Research at University of Southern Denmark.

Abstract: Hepatology celebrated the landmark cure for hepatitis C a decade ago. In contrast, steatotic liver diseases were for long met with therapeutic nihilism, as they required continuous treatment rather than a one-off viral cure. Today however, we stand at the dawn of a new era: the era of antifibrotic drugs. With the approval of resmetirom and semaglutide, and the anticipated impact of dual- and triple incretin therapies and FGF21 analogues, we are witnessing for the first time the potential not only to halt fibrosis, but to reverse it; even cirrhosis. These therapeutic advances necessitate a rethinking of how we assess treatment response, shifting from invasive endpoints to treatment effect monitoring, predictive biomarkers, and reasonably likely surrogate endpoints. They also reinforce the need for early fibrosis detection to unmask the hidden burden of steatotic liver disease among asymptomatic individuals.

The extracellular matrix, once deemed irreversible and static, is now at the forefront of innovation. ECM-derived biomarkers offer prognostic insights and monitoring capabilities that surpass traditional tools like the liver biopsy.

This talk celebrates the transformative shift in clinical practice away from the drug development graveyards, towards effective treatments for liver fibrosis and biomarker-driven disease management.