Backed by Bain Capital, Cardurion Pharmaceuticals will use the Series B funds to advance two assets for heart failure and other cardiovascular conditions.
Cardurion Pharmaceuticals has secured $260 million in Series B funds to help progress its cardiovascular assets, the clinical-stage company announced Tuesday.
The funding was led by Ascenta Capital and included many new investors, including Fidelity Management & Research Company, Farallon Capital Management, Delos Capital and Blue Owl Healthcare Opportunities. Bain Capital Life Sciences and Bain Capital Private Equity, which invested up to $300 million in Cardurion in 2021, also participated in this round.
Cardurion will use the funds to advance its two lead drug candidates. The first, a phosphodiesterase-9 (PDE-9) inhibitor to treat two types of heart failure, is in Phase II clinical trials. The second, a calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) inhibitor also currently in Phase II, aims to treat a broad range of cardiovascular diseases.
Cardurion is conducting an ongoing Phase II trial for the CaMKII inhibitor in catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT), a rare genetic arrhythmia disease. The company plans to pursue additional indications in “major cardiovascular indications,” but specifics were not given.
In May, the PDE-9 inhibitor met its primary endpoint in a Phase IIa heart failure trial, with results showing a median increase in plasma cyclic guanosine monophosphate, a biomarker of clinical benefits in heart failure, after four weeks of treatment versus placebo.
The raise will also enable Cardurion to expand the indications for its portfolio products, advance internal discovery, potentially acquire other therapeutic assets and hire more individuals, according to the announcement.
“Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the world, and we are pursuing new therapeutic targets to address unmet needs for patients with these diseases,” Cardurion CEO Peter Lawrence said in a statement.
Evan Rachlin, co-founder and managing partner at Ascenta Capital, said in a statement that the firm is “very impressed with the significant clinical data the Cardurion team has generated for their innovative cardiovascular drug candidates, with strong initial validation for targeting these untapped signaling pathways to address important needs in cardiovascular treatment.”
