Cincinnati-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company CinCor Pharma has announced the completion of a $50 million Series A round. California-based Sofinnova Investments led the round. 5AM Ventures also participated.
The Cincinnati Business Courier calls CinCor's recent raise the largest Series A the city has ever seen, followed by the $30 million Series A raised by Enable Injections in 2016 and the $25 million by Akebia Therapeutics in 2009.
In addition to the funding, CinCor announced that Swiss multinational health care company Roche would acquire exclusive global rights to CIN-107, an aldosterone synthase inhibitor compound. Said compound will be further developed to use against treatment-resistant hypertension and primary aldosteronism. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, although CinCor said it would use parts of the financings "to advance CIN-107 through proof-of-concept Phase 2 clinical trials in these two indications."
"This promising compound has great potential in addressing the substantial unmet medical need in patients who cannot achieve required blood pressure goals despite taking multiple anti-hypertensive medications," said CinCor CEO and co-founder Jon Isaacsohn, M.D., FACC. "Hypertensive patients who have not achieved goal blood pressures have significantly higher risks of heart attack and stroke. CIN-107 represents a new therapeutic option for these patients, as well as for patients who are at risk of aldosterone mediated end organ damage."
Sofinnova Investments Managing Partner Jim Healy, M.D., Ph.D., expressed excitement over the company's move.
"In my opinion, there has been a lack of innovation in the treatment of hypertension. Moreover, for many patients, the current standard of care does not adequately control their blood pressure," he said. "The mechanism of action in the compound that CinCor has acquired builds on what we believe to be significant data demonstrating the value of lowering aldosterone levels in patients with hypertension, and particularly in patients with primary aldosteronism."
Healy has joined the CinCor Board of Directors, along with Maina Bhaman from Sofinnova Partners and David Allison, Ph.D., from 5AM Ventures.
CinCor is a 2018-born startup, founded by Jon Isaacsohn, M.D., and Catherine Pearce, DHSc, MBA.
