Conatus buys Idun unit from Pfizer

Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (San Diego, Calif.) acquired the Idun Pharmaceuticals subsidiary of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) for an undisclosed sum. The deal reunites Idun with its former management team, who founded Conatus in 2005 following the sale of Idun to Pfizer for $250 million. Conatus gains Idun's emricasan ( IDN-6556), a small molecule broad spectrum caspase inhibitor for which Conatus is planning a Phase IIb trial to treat liver fibrosis, and IDN-13389, a diablo homolog ( DIABLO; SMAC) mimetic in preclinical testing for cancer. Pfizer had discontinued development of emricasan (formerly PFE-3491390) in 2008. Conatus said the deal complements its focus on liver disease and will allow the company to expand into cancer. ...