The heart failure field has finally started to see progress in recent years, as drugs such as Novartis’ Entresto have bucked the history of failure. Yet, the focus remains largely on the symptoms. Heart failure is a disease that is controlled, not cured. Cardior Pharmaceuticals has a bigger goal—and has persuaded investors to commit €64 million ($75 million) to support its ambitions.
German biotech Cardior is aiming to slow or even reverse heart failure by inhibiting RNA that affects signaling pathways involved in cardiovascular disease. The RNA, which doesn’t code for a protein, is upregulated when certain heart cells are stressed, causing knock-on effects that change the size and shape of the organ. Using an antisense oligonucleotide to inhibit the non-coding RNA, miR-132, could stop the dysregulation that drives disease and potentially reverse the negative effects it causes.
Investors see promise in the concept. Dutch VC shop Inkef Capital led the series B round with the support of fellow new investors such as Fund+ and Sunstone and existing backers including LSP, BioMedPartners and Bristol Myers Squibb. The existing investors powered Cardior to a €15 million series A round back in 2017.
Cardior used the earlier funding to generate phase 1b data on CDR132L in heart failure patients. The study randomized 28 patients to receive one of four doses of Cardior’s antisense oligonucleotide or placebo in two infusions four weeks apart. At the preferred dose, levels of a heart failure biomarker fell 23% in the CDR132L arm, compared to a 1% rise in the control cohort.
Tougher tests await CDR132L, but, with the trial showing dose-dependent reductions in miR-132 and preclinical tests finding the candidate reverses heart failure, Cardior has the data to support a move into phase 2. Cardior expects to have data from the study in the second half of 2024.