San Diego, CA – Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced that it has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to the proposed initial public offering of its common stock. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not been determined. All shares of the common stock to be sold in the offering will be offered by Conatus.

Stifel and Piper Jaffray & Co. are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. JMP Securities LLC is acting as co-lead manager and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. is acting as co-manager for the offering. The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus. When available, copies of the preliminary prospectus relating to and describing the terms of the offering may be obtained from Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, Attention: Syndicate, One Montgomery Street, Suite 3700, San Francisco, California 94104, by calling (415) 364-2720 or by emailing SyndicateOps@stifel.com, and from Piper Jaffray & Co., Attention: Prospectus Department, 800 Nicollet Mall, J12S03, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402, by calling (800) 747-3924 or by emailing prospectus@pjc.com.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC, but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

About Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Conatus is a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of novel medicines to treat liver disease. Conatus is developing its lead compound, emricasan, for the treatment of patients in orphan populations with chronic liver disease and acute exacerbations of chronic liver disease. Emricasan is a first-in-class, orally active caspase protease inhibitor designed to reduce the activity of enzymes that mediate inflammation and cell death, or apoptosis. Conatus believes that by reducing the activity of these enzymes, emricasan has the potential to interrupt the progression of liver disease. Conatus was founded by the executive management team of Idun Pharmaceuticals in July 2005 following the sale of Idun to Pfizer. Conatus acquired the global rights to emricasan from Pfizer in 2010. For additional information, please visit www.conatuspharma.com.

Contact:

Charles J. Cashion
Senior Vice President and CFO
Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc.
858-457-7221
ccashion@conatuspharma.com