Heart Metabolics secures $20 million in series A
Heart Metabolics Ltd. (Dublin, Ireland) raised an undisclosed amount in the first tranche of a planned $20 million series A round from venBio; Seroba Kernal Life Sciences; Brandon Capital Partners; and AshHill. Heart Metabolics is repurposing the generic drug perhexiline for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), with plans to start a U.S. Phase III trial early next year. The company said it will receive the second tranche of the A round upon obtaining an SPA from FDA for the trial.
Perhexiline was originally approved in the 1960s in the U.K. and EU to treat angina, but had limited use due to idiosyncratic nerve and liver toxicities and was subsequently withdrawn. The small molecule inhibitor of carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1 (CPT1) and CPT2 has been available in Australia and New Zealand since 1990 for angina with a requirement to monitor drug plasma levels. ...