Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CNAT) shares lost about half their value in Thursday pre-market trading following disappointing results from its Phase 2b clinical trial of its liver disease drug Emriscan.
The biotech’s ENCORE-PH clinical trial found that Emriscan failed to meet the primary endpoint of the study after being unable to show a meaningful difference when compared with the placebo.
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Shares fell 51% to $2.20 in Thursday pre-market trading.
Emriscan is an oral drug designed to reduce the activity of enzymes that cause inflammation and cell death, which may be able to affect the progression of liver disease.
“We believe data from the ENCORE-PH clinical trial as well as data from our two ongoing ENCORE trials that will be available in 2019 will warrant future discussions with regulatory authorities regarding potential pivotal trials in patients with NASH and advanced liver disease,” said Executive Vice President of Clinical Development David T. Hagerty in the company’s press release.
The double-blind, placebo-controlled study, conducted alongside drug manufacturing giant Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS), enrolled 263 patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a condition caused by a buildup of fat in the liver resulting in inflammation and damage to the organ.
Conatus is a San Diego-based biotech focused on the development of therapies to treat liver disease.
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