PHARMA Based on research at Karolinska Institutet, AnaCardio is developing a completely new drug concept for chronic heart failure. This enterprising company has received support from KI Innovations right from day one.

Approximately 200,000 Swedes suffer from heart failure, making it one of Sweden’s major public diseases. Heart failure is the result of the heart muscle being unable to pump enough blood around the body to provide cells with enough oxygen and nutrients. The condition is incurable and those with severe heart failure have few alternatives than a heart transplant.

“Heart failure is a serious condition with a very poor prognosis. Those over the age of 65 are particularly vulnerable, which means that the number of patients is increasing as the population gets older,” says Lars Lund, Professor at the Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, and Senior Consultant at Karolinska University Hospital.

There are currently no curative treatments for chronic heart failure, although certain drugs do slow its process. AnaCardio is developing the first drug that strengthens the pumping capacity of the heart, in the short and long term, based on many years of research.

Thinking the other way round
Lund works as a doctor and researcher at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital. His research has always focused on increasing understanding of heart failure with the aim of being able to provide those affected with better care. But it was only when he began to think the other way round that he arrived at a breakthrough.

“Existing treatment methods are all based on inhibiting or blocking certain of the body’s proteins and hormones. My idea was to find something that could instead stimulate the ability of the heart to pump blood. Simply daring to believe in the idea was a big step,” says Lund.

Researchers started searching for a substance or existing drug that could have a positive effect on the heart muscle. Among the most promising was a hormone called ghrelin, a hormone that occurs naturally in the body and has several protective properties for the heart.

Soon after this, a clinical study was conducted among heart failure patients at Karolinska University Hospital, which showed that the heart’s pumping capacity increased by almost 30 per cent among those who received ghrelin.

For Lund, the results were clearly reason to commercialise the find.

“The only way to administer this treatment to patients is with the help of a pharmaceutical company. And the fastest way to do that is to start our own company, which we did thanks to the help from KI Innovations,” Lund says.

At home at KI
AnaCardio has received support from KI Innovations since it started in 2017, including through the business incubator DRIVE. Now, the five employees are led by CEO Patrik Strömberg, and they work out of the company’s premises at KI in Solna.

“Karolinska Institutet’s campus is our home ground. Being close to Lars and his research group gives us a huge advantage. We also continue to collaborate with KI Innovations and other companies in the growing community on campus,” says Strömberg.

Strömberg obtained his doctorate in biochemistry at Karolinska Institutet and has since worked for more than 20 years for several major pharmaceutical companies.

“AnaCardio gives me the opportunity to make a genuine difference for a large group of patients who currently lack treatment options. What’s more, we do this with a completely new concept that we’ve already come a long way in developing. I can’t think of any more exciting work than this,” says Strömberg.

AnaCardio’s new drug is based on a drug molecule (AC01) that binds to the same receptor on cells as the ghrelin hormone. The molecule has already undergone preclinical development, which makes it possible to give patients any future drug in tablet form.

AnaCardio’s first study with AC01 is now being conducted in heart failure patients in the EU and the UK. Further clinical studies are planned, which requires more capital and further collaborations. The goal is to have a finished drug shortly after 2030.

“Further clinical studies in patients will be key to unlocking our future. We’re confident about building on the support we received from KI Innovations in everything from financing to business development and intellectual property rights,” explains Lund.

Text: Magnus Trogen Pahlén
Photo: Håkan Lindgren