Conatus Pharmaceuticals Acquires Pfizer's Idun Subsidiary
Former Idun Management team to expand efforts in liver disease and oncology
SAN DIEGO, July 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc.
announced today that Conatus acquired the Idun Pharmaceuticals
subsidiary of Pfizer Inc. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Conatus Pharmaceuticals is a privately-held drug development
company focused on liver disease and oncology.
Conatus Pharmaceuticals is led by Steven J. Mento, Ph.D., the
former CEO of Idun Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Pfizer
Inc. in 2005. "The addition of Idun to Conatus continues our
important work in liver disease and expands our therapeutic reach
into oncology," said Dr. Mento. "Conatus plans to leverage its
scientific and drug development expertise and resources to continue
to advance potentially important therapeutic candidates in liver
disease and oncology."
Idun Pharmaceuticals was a privately-held biopharmaceutical
company engaged in the discovery and development of drug candidates
to control apoptosis. At the time of the acquisition by Pfizer,
Idun had a Phase 2 drug candidate in liver disease
(emricasan/IDN-6556), preclinical drug candidates including
IDN-13389 for oncology, a development agreement with Abbott for an
oncology drug candidate, and key intellectual property in the field
of apoptosis. Conatus' SVP Corporate Development, Jennifer
Giottonini Cayer added, "We appreciate the contributions of
Pfizer's colleagues on these potentially important drug candidates.
Conatus is excited to have the opportunity to work on these
programs."
Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a privately-held pharmaceutical
company engaged in the development of innovative human therapeutics
to treat liver disease and oncology. The lead drug candidate,
CTS-1027 is in multiple Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment
of hepatitis C virus (HCV). Conatus was founded by the executive
management team of Idun Pharmaceuticals in July 2005 following the
sale of Idun to Pfizer. For additional information, please visit
www.conatuspharma.com.
Source: Conatus Pharmaceuticals
CONTACT: Steven J. Mento, Ph.D., President and CEO,
+1-858-457-7222,
smento@conatuspharma.com, or
Jennifer Giottonini Cayer, Senior VP Corporate
Development, +1-858-457-7224, jcayer@conatuspharma.com,
both of Conatus
Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Web Site: http://www.conatuspharma.com/
Posted: July 2010
