Novartis exercises its option to acquire emricasan, a treatment for liver disease, from Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Novartis announced that it has notified Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc., of its exercise of the option to an exclusive license for the global development and commercialization of emricasan, under the option, collaboration and license agreement signed with Conatus on December 19, 2016. The exercise of the option with Conatus, a biotechnology company focused on the development of novel medicines to treat liver disease, and grant of exclusive license to Novartis will be effective upon receipt of all required anti-trust approvals and payment of USD 7 million option exercise fee to Conatus.

This action follows the initiation of the Phase IIb ENCORE-LF trial by Conatus evaluating emricasan in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis caused by nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). This collaboration has the potential to expand treatment options for people in various stages of fatty liver disease, where no approved medicines currently exist.