Conatus Pharmaceuticals Announces Presentations and Posters at AASLD Annual Meeting

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 08, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNAT) announced today the schedule of upcoming oral presentations and posters addressing clinical and preclinical results with the company’s pan-caspase inhibitor emricasan, or addressing preclinical results with the company’s pan-caspase inhibitor IDN-7314, at The Liver Meeting^®, the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) in San Francisco November 9-13, 2018.

• Poster #1226, “Multicenter, double-blind, randomized trial of emricasan in subjects post liver transplantation (LT) with recurrent hepatitis C virus (HCV) and liver fibrosis or cirrhosis despite achieving sustained virologic response (SVR),” will be displayed by Catherine Frenette, M.D., (Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, CA) in the Liver Transplantation: Viral Hepatitis section on Saturday, November 10, from 2:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. PT, in the Moscone Center Poster Hall – Hall C.
  
  
  
  Presentation #251A, highlighting selected content from poster #1226, will be delivered by K. Rajinder Reddy, M.D., (University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA) in the Parallel 37: Liver Transplantation: Alcohol and Hepatitis C session on Monday, November 12, at 3:15 p.m. PT, in the Moscone Center Room 153/155.

• Presentation #25, “Intestinal dysbiosis augments liver disease progression via NLRP3 in a murine model of primary sclerosing cholangitis,” will be delivered by Kai M. Schneider (Department of Internal Medicine III, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany) in the Presidential Plenary Session on Translational Science and Genomics on Tuesday, November 13, 9:00 a.m. PT., in the Moscone Center General Session – Hall D.
  
  
  
  
• Poster #1344, “Molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of emricasan in portal hypertension and chronic liver disease: the hepato-sinusoidal cross-talk matters,” will be displayed by Jordi Gracia-Sancho, Ph.D., (Idibaps Biomedical Research Institute, Ciberehd, Barcelona, Spain; Hepatology, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland; and Barcelona Liver Services) in the
  
  Portal Hypertension and Other Complications of Cirrhosis: Experimental section on Saturday, November 10, from 2:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. PT, in the Moscone Center Poster Hall – Hall C.
  
  

“With three ongoing ENCORE Phase 2b clinical trials evaluating emricasan in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), all with top-line results expected over the next nine months, we are encouraged by the preclinical and clinical data being featured at the AASLD meeting demonstrating the activity and effects of pan-caspase inhibitors,” said Conatus co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer Steven J. Mento, Ph.D. “We thank our principal investigators and our scientific collaborators for their continued efforts to better understand and apply the multiple mechanistic effects of caspase inhibitors on liver structure and function, driving their disease-modifying potential. We are pleased with the opportunity to share their latest findings at the AASLD meeting, and we look forward to sharing results from the ENCORE trials.”

About Conatus Pharmaceuticals

Conatus is a biotechnology company focused on the development of novel medicines to treat liver disease. In collaboration with Novartis, 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, caspase inhibitors have the potential to interrupt the progression of a variety of diseases. 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, including statements regarding:  the timeline for results from the ENCORE trials; and caspase inhibitors’ potential to modify disease and interrupt the progression of a variety of diseases. 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: the risk that the preclinical results may not be predictive of future clinical trial results; Conatus’ ability to successfully enroll patients in and complete its ongoing and planned clinical trials; Conatus’ reliance on third parties to conduct its clinical trials, including the enrollment of patients, and manufacture its clinical drug supplies of emricasan; and 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