Sep 7, 2023

V-Bio Ventures portfolio company Corteria Pharmaceuticals raises EUR 65 million to advance its transformational medicines for cardiovascular diseases Ghent, Belgium, 7 September 2023 – Corteria Pharmaceuticals, a V-Bio Ventures portfolio company, is a biopharmaceutical company specialized in the development of transformative therapies for unaddressed heart failure subpopulations. Corteria today announced an oversubscribed EUR 65 million Series A co-led by US investment firm OrbiMed and EU-based leading investment firm Jeito Capital, with the participation of all existing seed investors (V-Bio Ventures, Kurma Partners, Fountain Healthcare Partners, Invivo Capital, and Omnes Capital). The funding will be used to advance Corteria’s cardiovascular pipeline into the clinic. Heart failure is a serious disease with a prevalence of more than 60 million patients globally and still growing. Corteria’s innovative approach consists of selecting therapeutic targets involved in the worsening and acute forms of human heart failure, as well as a stratification strategy to identify specific subgroups that are most likely to benefit from the treatments. These forms of heart failure are widespread, life-threatening, and not directly addressed by the current standards of care. Corteria was founded in 2021 by Sanofi’s former head of cardiovascular research, Philip Janiak, and Marie-Laure Ozoux, former cardiovascular project leader at Sanofi, around two cardiovascular programs in-licensed from Sanofi[1]. Since then, Corteria’s pipeline has expanded rapidly and today comprises three first-in-class therapies that are highly differentiated as they produce multi-organ benefits, acting on the kidneys, the vessels, and the heart: A once-daily subcutaneous CRF2[2] agonist for the treatment of Worsening Heart Failure A once-monthly subcutaneous CRF2[2] agonist for the treatment of Right Heart Failure An AVP (arginine vasopressin) neutralizing monoclonal antibody for the treatment of Acute Heart Failure with Hyponatremia The lead asset for Worsening Heart Failure is expected to enter the clinic in early 2024. [1] CRF2 peptide agonist and AVP neutralizing monoclonal antibody programs [2] Corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 2 About V-Bio Ventures V-Bio Ventures is an independent venture capital firm specialized in building and financing young, innovative life sciences companies. V-Bio Ventures was established in 2015 and works closely with Belgium-based VIB, one of the world’s premier life science institutes. The fund invests throughout Europe in start-up and early-stage companies with high growth potential focusing on technologies that provide transformational improvements in the biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical, diagnostics and agricultural sectors.