Novartis is exercising its option with California-based Conatus Pharmaceuticals for an exclusive license for the global development and commercialization of emricasan for treating liver disease NASH.
In December, Novartis signed a $50 million up front licensing deal to co-develop the fatty liver disease drug with Conatus. Emricasan, in midstage testing, is a first-in-class, pan-caspase inhibitor for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) with advanced scarring and cirrhosis.
Conatus is small biotech company focused on the development and commercialization of novel medicines to treat liver disease.
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