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BASL has agreed with the Baveno Cooperation to support up to five online registrations for the forthcoming . This workshop will set the agenda for the care of patients with compensated advanced chronic liver disease. It also provides attendees with the opportunity to learn more about the assessment of liver fibrosis and portal hypertension in addition to ÌÇÐÄlogo of patients with advanced chronic liver disease.

BASL will support free online registration for three consultant members and two trainee members.

Applicants will be selected on the basis of experience in the assessment and management of portal hypertension and the impact of attending the meeting on their practice and local services.

Applications will only be accepted on an application form.

Please find the links below to complete and submit an application:

Please apply now - the deadline is 23:59hrs 6th February 2026

Visit the Baveno VIII Consensus Workshop for further information on the event > .

Contact admin@basl.org.uk if you have any questions.

NB: this is only open to BASL members. 

BASL’s Trainee Subcommittee members are nearing the end of their tenure and we are seeking expressions of interest from trainees to take over these roles.

The subcommittee was formed to increase regional representation for hepatology interested trainees and is formed of 8 regional representatives. The regions are:

South West
South East
Midlands
North West
North East
Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland

Key roles will be in the promotion of hepatology locally and assistance in delivering BASL Trainee Educational events. 

Read more here: 

Application:
The post will be for 2 years and members are invited to submit an expression of interest to judy@basl.org.uk detailing which region you are interested in representing, along with a personal statement containing no more than 300 words, explaining why you want to represent your region and what you can bring to the BASL Trainee Subcommittee.

NB: You must have a training number in Gastroenterology to apply.

In the case of multiple applicants for a region the Secretariat will arrange for an election of the BASL In Training members. Representatives will be elected by simple majority of those members voting. (The personal statement will be shared with the membership if there is a vote and will be used for this purpose only.)

Deadline for expressions of interest is 23:59 on 9th February 2026.

If you have any specific questions about the subcommittee roles, please do not hesitate to contact the BASL Committee Trainee Representative Dr Wenhao Li @ wenhao.li@qmul.ac.uk or admin@basl.org.uk 

BASL is committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of its work. It is actively promoting equal opportunities and access for all our members regardless of their background. We would, therefore, encourage you to consider representing your region on the BASL Trainee Sub-Committee to help to shape the future of BASL and increase our inclusivity/inclusiveness.

We look forward to hearing from you.

A statement from Dr Palak Trivedi in his role as BASL/BSG Immune Liver Disease SIG Chair

I write with reference to a statement released by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at the beginning of September 2025, as relates to Obeticholic acid (OCA, Ocaliva) for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis (PBC).

In their statement, the FDA issued notice that Intercept Pharma (who do not operate in the United Kingdom) have withdrawn the license for OCA to treat individuals with PBC in the United States. This recommendation was made following that of the European Medicines Association (EMA) in 2024, which itself came after results of a post-market approval, phase IV randomised controlled clinical trial (COBALT trial, ). To recap, COBALT was specifically designed to treat patients with advanced liver disease / high-risk PBC, with the primary efficacy outcome being a reduction in liver event free survival (hepatic decompensation, hepatocellular carcinoma, need for transplantation and/or death). As per previous statements from BASL, the patient population in COBALT (a) represented a minority (<20%) of the overall PBC group eligible to receive second-line therapy, and (b) this trial took place at a time period when OCA was available for commercial use as part of routine clinical care. This meant that recruitment to the COBALT programme was challenging, as the vast majority of patients with high-risk liver disease opted for commercially available drug rather than take a chance at being on placebo for up to 7 years. Consequently, the COBALT trial was not able to recruit the required number of patients according to pre-specified power calculations and sample size, and was terminated early.

Following review of clinical trial data, and the inability to recruit to COBALT, the FDA claimed that the clinical benefits of OCA did not impart benefit to patients beyond certain on-treatment biochemical changes, and that:

• Use of OCA outside its clinical label (cirrhosis with clinically significant portal hypertension) may be associated with harm, with an increased risk of clinical events
• Certain individuals without cirrhosis also developed clinical events in the COBALT study (i.e. high risk individuals with very high levels of bilirubin in the absence of cirrhosis, in keeping with the premature ductopenic PBC variant.
Notably, these claims were made despite no new safety concerns / adverse safety data being provided to the FDA since their last review of OCA''s place as a PBC treatment. It is also important to highlight that the FDA did not take into account any of the published real-world evidence evaluating OCA over several years (at a population level), nor the wealth of clinical evidence and patient testimonials from countries where OCA is actually available and used (such as the UK). Indeed, data from multiple sources show a significant improvement in liver biochemical markers and a reduction in clinical event rate in patients with earlier stage PBC - .Abbas et al. APT 2025 (in press); Ampuero et al. Hepatology 2023

As it stands OCA is still licensed in several western markets, including the UK, Australia and Canada, with off-label access in many European countries (e.g. Spain). With regards the UK specifically, there are as yet no changes to recommendations on the use of OCA in PBC from the MHRA or NICE. As such, the FDA recommendation has NO direct impact on the use of OCA in routine clinical practice, or in clinical trials (e.g. the OPERA study or the OACS programme).

Thus, we, categorically, DO NOT recommend that any patient empirically stop Obeticholic acid therapy at present, nor do we suggest that any patient eligible to receive OCA de novo be stopped from doing so following the EMA recommendation.

End

Read the  of Frontline Gastroenterology online.

A collection of papers discussing all current and relevant topics in hepatology.

This special edition has been made to celebrate BASL's affiliation with Frontline Gastroenterology.

Listen to the team discuss the papers in this recent special edition.

Listen >  

Participants:

Dr Oliver Tavabie - Deputy Editor at Frontline Gastroenterology and Consultant Hepatologist at the Leeds Liver Unit
Dr Louise China - Lead Associate Editor at Frontline Gastroenterology and Consultant Hepatologist at the Royal Free
Dr Tim Cross - BASL President, Associate Editor at Frontline Gastroenterology and Consultant Hepatologist at the Royal Liverpool Hospital

We hope you enjoy the #FGPodcast. 

Frontline Gastroenterology (FG) affiliates with the Roux Group.

Read more on the FG website here >