Conatus Endures Another NASH Setback With Failure To Hit Fibrosis Endpoint

21 Mar 2019

The pan-caspase inhibitor emricasan, partnered with Novartis, misses fibrosis-reduction endpoint in Phase IIb study, following the failure last December of a trial in portal hypertension.

New approaches to liver disease could advance the field significantly. (Shutterstock)

The future of Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s partnership with Novartis AG in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) appears uncertain after the biotech’s emricasan posted its second Phase IIb miss in four months. The first-in-class pan-caspase inhibitor did not meet a fibrosis-reduction endpoint in the ENCORE-NF trial, the San Diego firm announced March 21.

Conatus did not provide detailed data for the trial other than to report that in 318 biopsy-confirmed NASH patients with...