AnaCardio

Biotech · Cardiovascular Disease · Clinical-Stage Pharma

Funding

AnaCardio raises $70.9M Series B for heart failure drug AC01

The oral drug adjusts calcium sensitivity rather than boosting calcium levels, aiming to dodge the arrhythmia risks that plague older heart-failure inotropes.

• Stockholm-based AnaCardio closed a €62.5 million ($70.9M) Series B co-led by Novo Holdings and the Ljungström family office to fund Phase 2b development of its heart failure candidate AC01.
• AnaCardio spun out of Karolinska Institutet in 2017 and licensed AC01 from originator Helsinn in 2022, focusing on treatments for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.
• Proceeds fund the Phase 2b GOAL-HF2 trial, enrolling roughly 400 patients at about 100 sites across 12 countries in North America and Europe, with first patient dosing expected Q4 2026 and Phase 3 readiness targeted for 2028.
• In the earlier Phase 1b/2a GOAL-HF1 study, AC01 produced a 22% rise in cardiac output and a 4.8-point improvement in ejection fraction after four weeks, with results published in The Lancet.
• AC01 is a first-in-class oral ghrelin receptor agonist that sensitizes heart cells to calcium instead of raising calcium levels directly, a mechanism designed to avoid the arrhythmia and ischemia risks tied to older IV inotropes.
• The raise is AnaCardio's largest to date after a prior $32 million Series A, but existing shareholder KDventures disclosed the round priced below its previous carrying valuation, marking it as a down round.
• About a third of heart failure patients fail to respond to standard therapy and face two-year mortality rates near 50%, so a safer oral alternative to risky IV inotropes could address a large, poorly served population.