DalCor Pharmaceuticals Secures $150 Million to Advance Phase III Precision Cardiovascular Therapy with Dalcetrapib

On April 19, DalCor Pharmaceuticals, a startup dedicated to advancing precision medicine for cardiovascular diseases, announced the completion of its $150 million financing round. The company will use these funds to continue the development of dalcetrapib, a therapy targeting cardiovascular disease patients with specific genetic profiles. DalCor completed a $50 million Series A financing round in 2015 and secured $100 million in Series B funding this week, led by Sanderling Ventures and André Desmarais. This brings DalCor’s total cumulative investment to $150 million.

Cardiovascular disease, the focus of DalCor, is the leading cause of death globally. In the United States, 610,000 patients die from cardiovascular disease each year. In China, deaths from cardiovascular disease account for 21% of all deaths, second only to malignant tumors. To address this issue, DalCor has focused on the candidate drug dalcetrapib. Dalcetrapib is a cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor. By modulating the activity of this protein, dalcetrapib can increase levels of healthy high-density lipoprotein (HDL), thereby reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. Through analysis of existing clinical data, DalCor found that dalcetrapib can produce therapeutic effects in a subset of patients with acute coronary syndrome who carry specific genetic variants. These patients’ADCY9The AA genotype at the rs1967309 locus was present in nearly 20% of all subjects. When these patients were treated with statins and dalcetrapib, their incidence of cardiovascular events decreased by 39%. Furthermore, they exhibited a tendency toward regression of atherosclerotic plaques in their arteries.

Dr. Robert McNeil, CEO of DalCor, stated, “This clinical trial represents a major advance in cardiovascular medicine and will provide innovative treatment options for heart disease patients with specific genetic profiles. We believe that dalcetrapib has the potential to significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in certain genetically defined populations, and that CETP inhibitors will deliver long-term benefits for these patients. DalCor and its investors are committed to developing dalcetrapib as the first personalized precision medicine for cardiovascular disease patients with specific genetic profiles.”

According to DalCor, the company will use these funds to conduct Phase III clinical trials of dalcetrapib. Starting this month, DalCor plans to enroll 5,000 volunteers with acute coronary syndrome at the Montreal Heart Institute (MHI) to evaluate the efficacy of dalcetrapib. We wish this Phase III clinical trial favorable outcomes, enabling the timely delivery of this precision therapy to patients.

References:

[1] DalCor Pharmaceuticals Completes $150 Million Financing

[2] Biotech upstart gambles $150M believing it can succeed after Big Pharmas failed on CETP

[3] Startup with Bay Area Ties, DalCor, Secures $150 Million Financing and to Launch Phase III Trial

[4] DalCor Pharmaceuticals Official Website.

[5] World Health Organization | Cardiovascular Diseases

Source: WuXi AppTec