The Israeli medical device company Exalenz Bioscience and the San Diego-based biotechnology company Conatus Pharmaceuticals will collaborate on a clinical trial for a chronic liver disease treatment.
Here's what you need to know:
1. Exalenz Bioscience has developed the BreathID System, a noninvasive breath-based medical device that diagnoses and monitors gastrointestinal and liver diseases by detecting the presence of H. pylori bacteria.
2. Conatus Pharmaceuticals is investigating emricasan, a compound that Conatus developed to treat patients with chronic liver disease.
3. In Conatus' IIb clinical trial of emricasan, researchers will use BreathID to monitor patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease cirrhosis.
4. For this trial, Exalenz Bioscience received FDA approval for an investigational device exemption.
5. At present, there are no noninvasive diagnostic methods to diagnose or monitor NASH. The only available methods are invasive liver biopsy and hepatic venous pressure gradient.