Vasa Therapeutics Announces Closing of Seed Financing to Advance Novel Therapies for Diseases of Cardiovascular Aging
$6M early-stage biotech investment supplemented by $2.3M non-dilutive grant funding
ENCINITAS, Calif., Jan. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Vasa Therapeutics, Inc. ("Vasa"), a preclinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies for cardiovascular aging, announced today the closing of series seed funding led by Orphinic Scientific SA ("Orphinic"), an early-stage investor focused on companies with game-changing potential. The round also included participation from private investments funds NuFund Venture Group, SeedFolio, and others.
"We are delighted to gain support from a high-quality group of US and international investors who share Vasa's mission to develop transformative therapies for cardiovascular aging that could extend the healthy lifespan," said Artur Plonowski, MD, PhD, CEO and Co-founder of Vasa. "This closing comes at an exciting time for Vasa as VS-041, our clinical candidate for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), enters the final stages of preclinical development with favorable FDA feedback at a recent pre-IND meeting."
"We are excited to have led the seed financing for Vasa. The company's novel biomarker strategy can lead to a personalized medicine-based therapy for HFpEF, a highly heterogenous disease, for which the currently available drugs do not provide durable improvement," said Adam Kruszewski, CEO of Orphinic. "We are also pleased to see multiple opportunities for the other Vasa assets, including sarcopenia, obesity, and peripheral artery disease."
Orphinic's chairman of supervisory board, Prof. Jaros?aw Leszczyszyn, will join Vasa's board of directors and represent this round of seed investors.
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP served as legal counsel to Vasa.
About Vasa Therapeutics
Vasa is a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics that target pathophysiology of cardiovascular aging:
VS-041 is the first potential personalized medicine-based treatment of HFpEF. VS-041 shows robust reduction of cardiac fibrosis in preclinical HFpEF model and inhibits release of signaling collagen fragments, such as PRO-C6, that mediate fibroinflammatory responses and are biomarkers of worse outcomes in HFpEF patients. Phase 1 clinical trial of VS-041 is planned for Q2 2024.
Long acting apelin peptide analogs for combination treatment with incretins in obesity patients at risk for skeletal muscle loss or cardiovascular disease. As a monotherapy, long acting apelin agonists could also be beneficial in muscle atrophy, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, and peripheral artery disease.
A best-in-class inhibitor of CamKIId for heart failure and life-threatening arrhythmias.
MomsTribute, Inc., http://www.momstribute.com, is pleased to announce the next phase of partnership with our Spokesmom, national TV host, Whitney Reynolds. http://www.whitneyreynolds.com
Whitney is the mother of two fraternal twins, and has a strong...
?URA, maker of Oura Ring, the most accurate and trusted smart ring, announced the launch of two new heart health features: Cardiovascular Age (CVA) and Cardio Capacity. The two product advancements signal the next evolution of ?URA, furthering its...
ProGro BIO has announced the commencement of its 2024 U.S. expansive in-field trial program. Building upon the resounding success of its 2023 program, which encompassed over 10,000 acres across diverse crops, this year's initiative marks another...
On May 9th, Momcozy, a global leader in mother and baby care, hosted a heartwarming event at Babylist Beverly Hills as part of its "Momcozy Village" campaign. This initiative emphasizes the belief that "it takes a village to raise a mother," focusing...
Flightpath Biosciences Inc., a clinical-stage life sciences company developing therapeutics to treat infectious diseases, announced today that the first healthy volunteer participants have been dosed in its Phase I clinical trial of FP-100...
Cardiologist Brendan Carry, MD, and a team of Geisinger physicians have enrolled the first patient in the U.S. into a cardiac amyloidosis trial. The team is also the first to in the U.S. to screen for the trial....