Philadelphia-based Renovacor Inc., a preclinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing gene therapy-based treatments for cardiovascular disease, received an $11 million Series A financing co-led by Novartis Venture Fund, Broadview Ventures and BioAdvance, joined by New Leaf Venture Partners and Innogest Capital.
Renovacor’s lead program is a recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene therapy for patients suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) due to mutations in the BAG3 gene, a condition affecting over 3 million patients in the U.S. and growing steadily.
Proceeds from the Series A financing will be used to advance the Renovacor’s gene replacement therapy through filing of an IND in preparation to initiate human clinical trials in DCM patients who have mutations in their BAG3 gene.
In conjunction with the financing, Renovacor announced its leadership team and board of directors including Dr. Magdalene Cook, Renovacor’s President and CEO; Dr. Arthur M. Feldman, MD, Ph.D, FACC, Renovacor’s Founder and the Laura H. Carnell Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University; Thomas Needham, MBA, Director, Broadview Ventures; Dr. Campbell Murray, Managing Director, Novartis Venture Fund; and Dr. Edward J. Benz, President and CEO Emeritus of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and currently the Richard and Susan Smith Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Professor of Pediatrics, and Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School.
