Why Conatus Pharmaceuticals May Have the Answer to Liver Disease
Steven Mento, PhD on Advanced Therapy for Liver Disease
Video Source - The Doctor's Channel
Emricasan Development
- We have designed a comprehensive clinical program to demonstrate the therapeutic benefit of emricasan across the spectrum of fibrotic liver disease. We plan to study emricasan in patients with rapidly progressing fibrosis (HCV-POLT) as well as in patients with established liver cirrhosis and decompensated disease (ACLF and CLF).
- Current clinical focus is on patients with chronic liver disease to:
- Improve and/or stabilize liver function during acute and chronic liver failure
- Delay progression of fibrosis to cirrhosis due to Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) recurrence
ACLF- acute-on-chronic liver failure
CLF - chronic liver failure
Emricasan, also known as IDN 6556 and PF 03491390
Overview
Conatus Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of novel medicines to treat liver disease. We are developing our lead compound, emricasan, for the treatment of patients in orphan populations with chronic liver disease and acute exacerbations of chronic liver disease. Emricasan is a first-in-class, orally active caspase protease inhibitor designed to reduce the activity of enzymes that mediate inflammation and cell death, or apoptosis. We believe that by reducing the activity of these enzymes, emricasan has the potential to interrupt the progression of liver disease. We have observed compelling preclinical and clinical trial results that suggest emricasan may have clinical utility in slowing progression of liver diseases regardless of the original cause of the disease
To date, emricasan has been studied in over 500 subjects in ten clinical trials. In a randomized Phase 2b clinical trial in patients with liver disease, emricasan demonstrated a statistically significant, consistent, rapid and sustained reduction in elevated levels of two key biomarkers of inflammation and cell death, alanine aminotransferase, or ALT, and cleaved Cytokeratin 18, or cCK18, respectively, both of which are implicated in the severity and progression of liver disease. Emricasan has been generally well-tolerated in all of the clinical studies. Our initial development strategy targets indications for emricasan with high unmet clinical need in orphan patient populations, such as patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure, or ACLF, chronic liver failure, or CLF, and patients who have developed liver fibrosis post-orthotopic liver transplant due to Hepatitis C virus infection, or HCV-POLT.
We expect to initiate a Phase 2b ACLF trial and a Phase 3 HCV-POLT trial (currently designated a Phase 3 registration study in the European Union and a Phase 2b study in the United States) in the second half of 2013 and a Phase 2b CLF trial in the second half of 2014.
Overview of Liver Disease
Liver disease can result from injury to the liver caused by a variety of insults, including Hepatitis C virus, or HCV, Hepatitis B virus, obesity, chronic excessive alcohol use or autoimmune diseases.
Regardless of the underlying cause of the disease, there are important similarities in the disease progression including increased inflammatory activity and excessive liver cell apoptosis, which if unresolved leads to fibrosis. Fibrosis, if allowed to progress, will lead to cirrhosis, or excessive scarring of the liver, which may result in reduced liver function. Some patients with liver cirrhosis have a partially functioning liver and may appear asymptomatic for long periods of time, which is referred to as compensated liver disease. When the liver is unable to perform its normal functions this is referred to as decompensated liver disease. ACLF occurs in patients who have compensated or decompensated cirrhosis but are in relatively stable condition until an acute event sets off a rapid worsening of liver function. Patients with CLF suffer from continual disease progression which may eventually lead them to require orthotopic liver transplantation. Patients with HCV who receive orthotopic liver transplants, in which the diseased liver is replaced by a donor liver, will have their HCV infections recur. Many of these HCV-POLT patients will experience accelerated development of fibrosis and progression to cirrhosis of the transplanted liver due to the recurrence of HCV.
The National Institutes of Health estimates that 5.5 million Americans have chronic liver disease or cirrhosis, and liver disease is the twelfth leading cause of death in the United States. According to the European Association for the Study of the Liver, 29 million Europeans have chronic liver disease and liver disease represents approximately two percent of deaths annually. In the United States, more than 5,000 liver transplants are performed in adults and more than 500 in children annually, with approximately 17,000 subjects still awaiting transplant. We are planning to study the effectiveness of emricasan in defined subsets of patients with liver disease. ACLF, CLF and HCV-POLT are potential orphan indications in both the United States and European Union, or EU. We estimate that the target populations for emricasan in these indications in the United States and the EU are approximately 150,000 ACLF patients, 10,000 CLF patients and 50,000 HCV-POLT patients.
Conatus Pharmaceuticals
Related - Jan 13 2104
Fatty Liver Disease W-Advanced Fibrosis: Galectins Completes Enrollment For First Cohort Phase 1 Trial of GR-MD-02
December 2013
Liver transplant therapy given orphan drug status
The FDA has granted orphan drug status to Conatus Pharmaceuticals for emricasan, a potential treatment for patients with chronic liver disease and acute exacerbations of chronic liver disease, according to a company news release.
The orally active caspase protease inhibitor is intended for liver transplant recipients with re-established fibrosis to delay the progression to cirrhosis and end-stage liver disease, the release said. It is designed to reduce activity of enzymes that mediate inflammation and apoptosis.
“The FDA’s orphan drug designation of emricasan … reinforces the critical need for alternatives to the only currently available treatment, which is a second transplant,” Conatus Co-Founder, President and CEO Stephen J. Mento, PhD, said in the release. “This designation is a significant step forward for Conatus' clinical development program for emricasan.”
The treatment has been studied in 10 clinical trials involving more than 500 patients, the release said, including a randomized phase 2b clinical trial in which it resulted in statistically significant, consistent, rapid and sustained reductions in key biomarkers related to the progression and severity of liver disease.
Another phase 2b trial involving emricasan and patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure is under way, as is a phase 2 trial involving patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis, the release said.
The FDA’s orphan drug program offers incentives to drug makers working on therapies for conditions affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the United States and for those affecting more than 200,000 people but not expected to allow for recovery of the costs of developing and marketing the treatment.
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