Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc.
announced the initiation of a clinical trial with a novel drug candidate
for the treatment of liver disease associated with Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)
infection in patients who have failed the approved standard of care
treatments.
The oral, small molecule drug candidate, CTS-1027, is being studied as
a treatment for the inflammatory damage to the liver resulting from
infection by HCV. CTS-1027 inhibits the activity of key members of a class
of protease enzymes, the matrix metalloproteinases or MMPs. In the liver
and in other solid organs, MMPs play an important role in regulating
inflammation as well as in maintaining the integrity of the extracellular
matrix. CTS-1027 has been shown to be effective in multiple preclinical
models of liver disease.
The clinical trial is a double-blind, placebo-controlled, multiple-dose
trial lasting for four weeks followed by a voluntary open label period of
up to eight additional weeks. The Company expects approximately 100
patients to be enrolled. The clinical trial will be conducted at up to ten
medical centers in the U.S. Additional information about the trial can be
found at clinicaltrials (Identifier NCT00570336) or
clinicaltrials/ct2/show/NCT00570336?term=CTS-1027&rank=1.
"We are excited to initiate this proof of concept trial in HCV patients
with CTS-1027," said Steven J. Mento, President and CEO of Conatus. "We
believe that CTS-1027 represents a novel approach to treating liver
inflammation and look forward to developing this drug candidate to fill an
important medical need in HCV-infected patients."
Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a privately-held specialty
pharmaceutical company engaged in the development of innovative human
therapeutics to treat liver disease. Chronic liver disease affects millions
of people worldwide and can be caused by many different conditions or
"insults" to the liver including Hepatitis C and other viral infections,
obesity, chronic alcohol abuse or autoimmune diseases. Conatus was founded
by the executive management team of Idun Pharmaceuticals in July 2005
following the successful sale of Idun to Pfizer. For additional
information, please visit conatuspharma.
Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc.
conatuspharma