Conatus Pharmaceuticals Announces Poster Presentations at AASLD Annual Meeting

- Emricasan Improves Liver Function in Cirrhosis Patients with NASH and/or Elevated MELD Scores -

- Emricasan Improves Hepatic Blood Flow, Portal Hypertension, and Liver Function in Animal Models -

SAN DIEGO , Nov. 14, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:CNAT) announced today the presentation of four posters – two addressing clinical results and two addressing preclinical results with the company’s pan-caspase inhibitor, emricasan – at The Liver Meeting^®, the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) in Boston November 11-15, 2016.

Poster #2095, “Emricasan (IDN-6556) Orally for 6 Months in Patients with Cirrhosis and Elevated MELD Score Improves Liver Function,” will be presented by Catherine Frenette, M.D., Medical Director of Liver Transplantation at Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, CA, and a principal investigator in the company’s multicenter Phase 2 Liver Cirrhosis clinical trial of emricasan.

Poster #2099, “Emricasan (IDN-6556) Orally for 6 Months in Patients with Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) Cirrhosis Decreases the Progression of MELD Score and Improves Liver Function,” also will be presented by Dr. Frenette.

“We were highly encouraged by the results from our Phase 2 Liver Cirrhosis trial after the first three months of treatment, which showed improvement using two clinically relevant measures of liver function and prognosis – MELD and Child Pugh scores – in the high baseline MELD score subgroup, and decreased progression using the same two measures in the NASH subgroup regardless of baseline MELD score,” said David T. Hagerty, M.D., Executive Vice President of Clinical Development at Conatus. “The continued directional improvements after six months of treatment support continued development in patients with NASH cirrhosis, and directly inform the design of our upcoming ENCORE-LF trial.”

Poster #2097, “The pan caspase inhibitor Emricasan improves the hepatic microcirculatory dysfunction of CCl₄-cirrhotic rats leading to portal hypertension amelioration and cirrhosis regression,” will be presented by Jordi Gracia-Sancho, Ph.D., Ramón y Cajal Researcher in Biomedicine at Barcelona Hepatic Hemodynamic Lab, IDIBAPS Biomedical Research Institute & CIBEREHD, Barcelona, Spain.

Poster #2098, “Circulating microparticles carry apoptosis markers CK-18 and caspase-3/7 which are reduced by treatment with Emricasan in subjects with chronic liver diseases,” will be presented by Akiko Eguchi, Ph.D., Project Scientist in the Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA.

“Thanks to the continuing efforts of our independent research collaborators, we continue to expand our understanding of emricasan’s multiple mechanisms of action,” said Alfred P. Spada, Ph.D., Executive Vice President of Research and Development and Chief Scientific Officer of Conatus. “The cirrhotic rat portal hypertension study demonstrated that emricasan improved microvascular dysfunction in the liver and drove related improvements in fibrosis, portal hypertension and liver function. The detailed analysis of serum samples from our hepatic impairment trial showed that subjects with severe hepatic injury have elevated levels of circulating microparticle-encapsulated cCK-18 and active caspase-3/7, and that emricasan can reduce these elevated levels. These results support continued development in patients with NASH cirrhosis.”

Both poster #2095 and poster #2097 were accepted as “Presidential Posters of Distinction,” indicating review scores that place them within the top 10 percent of all posters submitted.

All four posters will be displayed in Hall C on Level 2 of the Hynes Convention Center in Poster Session IV on Monday, November 14, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST, with authors available for discussion at the posters from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EST. Copies of the posters are available in the Data section of the Conatus website at www.conatuspharma.com.

About Conatus Pharmaceuticals
Conatus is a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of novel medicines to treat liver disease. Conatus is developing its lead compound, emricasan, for the treatment of patients with chronic liver disease. Emricasan is a first-in-class, orally active pan-caspase inhibitor designed to reduce the activity of enzymes that mediate inflammation and apoptosis. Conatus believes that by reducing the activity of these enzymes, emricasan has the potential to interrupt the disease progression across the spectrum of liver disease. For additional information, please visit www.conatuspharma.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release are forward looking statements, including statements regarding:  the Liver Cirrhosis trial results and preclinical results as support for continued development of emricasan in patients with NASH cirrhosis; and emricasan’s potential to reduce caspase activity and interrupt disease progression across the spectrum of liver disease. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “could,” “intend,” “target,” “project,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including: Conatus’ ability to initiate and successfully complete current and future clinical trials; the risk that the preclinical results may not be predictive of future clinical results; the uncertainty of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s and other regulatory agencies’ approval processes and other regulatory requirements; and those risks described in Conatus’ prior press releases and in the periodic reports it files with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The events and circumstances reflected in Conatus’ forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable law, Conatus does not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise.

MEDIA:  David Schull
Russo Partners, LLC
(858) 717-2310
[email protected] 

INVESTORS:  Alan Engbring
Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc.
(858) 376-2637
[email protected]