Conatus Pharmaceuticals said its experimental lead drug was more effective than a placebo in a mid-stage study in patients with a form of fatty liver disease.

The drug, emricasan, was tested in 38 patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, including some sufferers of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a more severe form of the condition, the company said on Thursday.

NASH is the leading cause of liver-related morbidity and mortality, but no pharmaceutical therapy currently exists for it.

Several drugmakers, including Gilead Sciences, Intercept Pharmaceuticals and France's Genfit, are in the race to develop treatments.

The study determined the drug's effectiveness by measuring reductions in biomarkers associated with cell death and inflammation, considered to be drivers of progressive liver disease.

The treatment had no adverse effects on lipid levels or insulin sensitivity in these patients, who are typically at risk of cardiovascular disease, Conatus said.

Emricasan is Conatus' most advanced drug-in-development and has been evaluated for a number of liver indications.

The treatment is initially being developed for liver cirrhosis, or severe scarring that may be caused by all manner of assaults on the liver.

Conatus estimates that about 2 million people in the United States and five largest European markets have cirrhosis and varying degrees of liver impairment.