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In NASH Race, Bad News For Conatus, Good News For Genfit In PBC

 
• By Joseph Haas

Conatus’ emricasan fails to meet the primary endpoint for portal hypertension in NASH patients with cirrhosis, but firm stresses promising subgroup data. Genfit hits Phase II primary endpoint in PBC with elafibranor, which is also in Phase III for NASH.

female scientist working with microscope

While investors await the initial Phase III data readouts for new drugs in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in 2019, a pair of companies long involved in the race to bring the first NASH therapy to market experienced divergent fates this past week. Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc. got its second mid-stage setback with NASH candidate emricasan, failing to meet a Phase IIb primary endpoint in portal hypertension, while Genfit SA reported Phase II success with elafibranor in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC).

Emricasan, a first-in-class pan-caspase inhibitor for which Novartis AG has held option rights since 2016, is currently being studied in three Phase IIb trials in NASH patients. But, Conatus announced Dec

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