Singapore-based biotechnology firm Nuevocor has raised US$45 million in a series B funding round.

The financing was co-led by Kurma Partners and Angelini Ventures, with support from EDBI, ClavystBio, and the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund.

The funds will support clinical trials for Nuevocor’s lead candidate, NVC-001, targeting LMNA-related dilated cardiomyopathy (LMNA DCM).

This Phase 1/2 trial will take place at multiple sites in the US and Europe. LMNA DCM is a genetic condition affecting over 100,000 patients in these regions.

Nuevocor plans to open a new office in Paris, France, to assist its clinical development efforts.

🔗 Source: Nuevocor

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Novel mechanobiology approach offers fresh hope after previous failures in LMNA-DCM

Nuevocor’s $45 million financing highlights a unique approach to a disease that has resisted previous treatment attempts.

Pfizer’s discontinuation of their LMNA-DCM candidate (PF-07265803) in 2022 demonstrates the challenges in this space, as their Phase 3 REALM-DCM trial was halted after interim analysis showed it was unlikely to meet its primary endpoint 1.

This pattern of failure extends beyond Pfizer, as the field of cardiac gene therapy has struggled with clinical translation despite promising preclinical results, such as the CUPID trial using SERCA2a gene transfer, which failed to show significant improvement over placebo despite initial enthusiasm 2.

Nuevocor’s mechanobiology-centered platform represents a shift from traditional approaches, targeting the functional root cause rather than simply replacing defective genes, addressing a limitation of previous approaches.

With over 100,000 patients affected by LMNA-DCM in just the U.S. and Europe, and the rapid progression toward end-stage heart failure characteristic of this condition, the unmet medical need remains substantial despite multiple attempts at developing treatments.

2️⃣ Gene therapy evolution tackles previous cardiac delivery challenges

Nuevocor’s AAV-based therapy NVC-001 builds on years of vector development aimed at solving the persistent challenge of cardiac delivery efficiency.

Previous gene therapy approaches for heart conditions have struggled with transduction efficiency, with studies showing myocardial uptake in humans approximately 1,000 times lower than in animal models – a critical factor in clinical trial failures 2.