Conatus acquires Idun from Pfizer
Former Idun management team to expand efforts in liver disease and oncology
Conatus Pharmaceuticals, a US drug developer focused on treatments for liver disease and oncology, has acquired Pfizer’s Idun Pharmaceuticals subsidiary. Financial terms were not revealed.
Steven Mento, formerly chief executive of Idun Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Pfizer in 2005, heads Conatus, which is based in San Diego, California.
‘The addition of Idun to Conatus continues our important work in liver disease and expands our therapeutic reach into oncology,’ he said.
Conatus says it plans to continue to develop potentially important therapeutic candidates in these two areas.
Idun Pharmaceuticals was a privately held developer of drug candidates to control apoptosis. At the time of the acquisition by Pfizer, the firm 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.
Jennifer Giottonini Cayer, Conatus’ senior vice president of corporate development, 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 programmes.’
Conatus’ lead drug candidate, CTS-1027, is in multiple Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV).
