The EU's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) closed January with a slate of decisions Friday, including recommendations for Novo Nordisk and UCB drugs, while Sanofi's graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) treatment gets a second change and Eli Lilly settles for a label update.Novo Nordisk's KayshildOne of the more closely watched decisions was the conditional recommendation for Novo Nordisk's semaglutide to treat non-cirrhotic metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and liver fibrosis, a new indication for the GLP-1 agonist that the company plans to market as Kayshild. Semaglutide is already approved for diabetes as Ozempic and Rybelsus, and as Wegovy for weight loss.The opinion marks the first time a GLP-1 agonist has been cleared in Europe for MASH, and comes about five months after US regulators approved it under the Wegovy brand for the same indication based on data from the Phase III ESSENCE trial. Results there showed that 37% of patients achieved improved liver scarring without their steatohepatitis getting worse at 72 weeks, compared to 22.5% on placebo. Rates of steatohepatitis resolution without any increase in liver scarring were 62.9% and 34.1%, respectively.Sanofi's Rezurock re-examinedAfter having revisited its October negative opinion of Sanofi's Rezurock (belumosudil) for chronic GvHD, the EU drug advisory panel now recommends conditional approval in last-line patients ages 12 years and up. The ROCK2 inhibitor downregulates IL-17 and IL-21 and mediates signalling in immune cellular function and fibrotic pathways.Sanofi picked up the oral ROCK2 inhibitor via its $1.9-billion Kadmon buyout in 2021, just after the FDA had cleared it for GvHD. In the pivotal Phase II ROCKstar study, the drug plus standard of care delivered about a 73% response rate in patients who had received two to five prior lines of systemic therapy, with a median duration of 1.9 months.At the time, CHMP said ROCKstar's single-arm design made it hard to clearly determine Rezurock's benefit, while Sanofi said it wouldn't have confirmatory data until 2030. Still, the French drugmaker requested a re-examination of the negative October decision, and said Friday's CHMP recommendation was based on safety and efficacy data "from several clinical studies and real-world evidence," including ROCKstar."We…made the commitment to conduct a new post-approval confirmatory study, given the limited late-line treatment options available for EU patients," said Olivier Charmeil, Sanofi's EVP of general medicines.UCB's KygevviCHMP also issued a positive opinion under exceptional circumstances for Kygevvi, UCB's treatment for thymidine kinase 2 deficiency, a rare and often fatal mitochondrial myopathy. It is indicated for patients whose disease started at or before 12 years of age. Kygevvi, which was approved by the FDA last November, works by incorporating the pyrimidine nucleosides, deoxycytidine and deoxythymidine, into skeletal muscle cell mitochondria to help rebuild their DNA.The EU recommendation relied on a retrospective chart review and a single-arm Phase II study in 39 children, in which 84% regained one or more motor milestones after treatment with Kygevvi, suggesting improved motor function. The most common side effects were diarrhoea, vomiting and abdominal pain.A recommendation under exceptional circumstances means the authorisation can be granted with specific obligations that are reviewed each year.Incyte's Zynyz expandedIn oncology, CHMP backed an extension for Incyte's PD-1–blocking antibody Zynyz (retifanlimab) to treat adults with inoperable, metastatic or locally recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal (SCAC) when combined with chemotherapy. The drug was initially authorised in Europe in 2024 for Merkel cell carcinoma.US regulators greenlit Zynyz for SCAC last year based on results from the Phase III POD1UM-303 trial. According to CHMP, half of SCAC patients treated with Zynyz plus chemotherapy lived for 9.3 months or longer without their cancer worsening, versus 7.4 months for placebo and chemotherapy.However, regulators acknowledged lingering uncertainty over overall survival benefit; half of patients treated with Zynyz lived for at least 32.8 months compared with 22.2 months for placebo, which was not statistically significant. Still, the committee pointed to improvements in progression-free survival as sufficient evidence of clinical value in a setting with few alternatives.Lilly's Mounjaro for heart failureMeanwhile, not all GLP-1 news ended with CHMP backing. The EU panel declined to grant a separate heart-failure indication for Lilly's dual GLP-1/GIP agonist Mounjaro (tirzepatide) in patients with obesity and preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), instead opting to incorporate trial results into the product label.The drug is currently approved in Europe for treating type 2 diabetes and for chronic weight management in adults. "Although EMA did not recommend that a separate indication should be granted for the treatment of HFpEF, it agreed to include relevant data from the study submitted with the application in the medicine's product information," CHMP said, so that "healthcare professionals have access to up-to-date data on the effects of Mounjaro in adults with chronic HFpEF and obesity."Lilly withdrew a similar application last year in the US, where tirzepatide is sold as Zepbound for weight loss, after the FDA asked to see more clinical data. The filing was based on Phase III data from the SUMMIT study showing that Zepbound reduced the risk of heart failure complications by 38% versus placebo in patients with and without diabetes.