BEST case scenario

When Arca Discovery Inc. submits an NDA next year for the beta blocker bucindolol to treat heart failure, the company will be seeking approval based mainly on a single Phase III trial that was never completed and didn't show significance on its primary endpoint. That sounds like a high hurdle, but Arca thinks the compound's effect on clinically relevant secondary endpoints could help it reach the market, especially now that the company has identified biomarkers that predict both hyper-responsiveness to and adverse effects of the compound.

Three investors - Atlas Venture, Boulder Ventures and Pequot Capital - last week gave the company $15 million in a series A round to prove its point...