CNAT - A Look Into Conatus' Failed ENCORE-PH Trial
Conatus (CNAT) is a clinical-stage biotech company that is developing a pan-caspase protease inhibitor, emricasan, with Novartis' (NVS) help. Emricasan is undergoing 4 different trials, 3 of which are focused on non-alcoholic steatohepatitis ((NASH)). On December 5, 2018, it announced top-line results for ENCORE-PH, a placebo-controlled trial that looked at whether three different doses of emricasan (5mg, 25mg, and 50mg BID) could improve hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) in NASH patients with liver cirrhosis. Unfortunately, the trial failed to meet its primary endpoint, which led to a subsequent 56% drop in share prices