Novartis adds heat to the highly competitive non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) market with a deal with Conatus Pharmaceutical to co-develop emricasan, an oral first-in-class pan-caspase inhibitor being evaluated for NASH fibrosis and cirrhosis in a deal worth US$722 M. The addition of emricasan will add depth to Novartis’ liver disease franchise and allows Novartis to investigate emricasan with its own NASH pipeline.