Oxford-based biotech company Ochre Bio is partnering with German-based Boehringer Ingelheim to develop treatments harnessing the liver’s natural capacity to regenerate.

According to the British Liver Trust, chronic liver disease is the only major disease where death rates are rising. Compared with 1970, death rates from liver disease are four times higher today.

In the UK, 10,000 people die annually from liver disease each year, which equates to 27 deaths a day. It’s not just the elderly who die from it either. According to the UK Health Security Agency, it is the largest killer of 35- to 49-year-olds in the UK.

The only option for patients suffering from chronic liver disease is a liver transplant. However, these aren’t in ready supply.

As the liver is the only organ that can regenerate, for a number of decades Oxford-based biotech company, Ochre Bio, has been working on developing drugs that enable diseased livers to restore this self-repair capability.

This work has involved analysing...