Conatus Late-breaker Oral Presentation at EASL Meeting Details Results of ENCORE-PH Phase 2b Clinical Trial in Patients with NASH Cirrhosis and Severe Portal Hypertension

SAN DIEGO, April 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNAT) announced today that the company’s late-breaker oral presentation at The International Liver Congress™ 2019, the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) in Vienna, Austria, April 10-14, was also selected by EASL for inclusion in the “Best of ILC” summary slide deck highlighting the most noteworthy contributions to the scientific program at this year’s meeting.

The oral presentation at EASL entitled, “Multicenter, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Randomized Trial of Emricasan in Subjects with NASH Cirrhosis and Severe Portal Hypertension (PH),” (#LB01) detailed results from the company’s Phase 2b ENCORE-PH clinical trial of emricasan, the company’s first-in-class, orally active pan-caspase protease inhibitor. Guadalupe Garcia-Tsao, M.D., Professor of Medicine in the Section of Digestive Diseases at Yale School of Medicine, Director of the Clinical and Translational Core at Yale Liver Center, Chief of the Section of Digestive Diseases at the Veterans Administration-Connecticut Health Care System, and the central reader in the ENCORE-PH trial, delivered the presentation on Saturday, April 13, at 4:00 p.m. CEST. A copy of the presentation is available in the Investors section of the Conatus website at .

About Conatus Pharmaceuticals

Conatus is a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of novel medicines to treat chronic diseases with significant unmet need. In collaboration with Novartis, Conatus is developing its lead in-licensed compound, emricasan, for the treatment of patients with NASH-driven chronic liver diseases. Conatus is independently developing its lead internally developed compound, CTS-2090, for the treatment of patients with chronic diseases involving inflammasome pathways. For additional information, please visit .

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. 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 those risks described in the company’s prior press releases and in the periodic reports it files with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The events and circumstances reflected in the company’s 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, the company 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.

CONTACT:  Alan Engbring

Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc.

(858) 376-2637