CinCor Pharma, Inc.

Dyslipidemia, a condition involving unhealthy levels of cholesterols and other fats in the blood, is a major risk factor in cardiovascular diseases, which make up the world’s biggest killer with 17.9 million deaths ​ per year. While there are treatments for dyslipidemia, they are not sufficient to control the blood levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or ‘bad cholesterol,’ in many patients. The oral drug developed by CSPC is designed to prevent the production of a low-density lipoprotein called lipoprotein (a), which is involved in the transport of cholesterol in the bloodstream. By doing this, it may treat and prevent a range of cardiovascular diseases as a monotherapy or in combination with another small molecule candidate by AstraZeneca’s that depletes low-density lipoproteins by blocking an enzyme called PCSK9. According to the deal terms, CSPC is eligible for $100 million upfront in addition to up to $1.92 billion in payments based on development and commercialization milestones, plus tiered royalties. Sharon Barr, AstraZeneca’s executive vice president and head of biopharmaceuticals R&D stated ​ that the asset “could help patients to more effectively manage their dyslipidemia and related cardiometabolic diseases. Given the scale of unmet need, with cardiovascular disease being a leading cause of death globally, advancing novel therapies that can be used alone or in combination to effectively address known risk factors and advance patient care is particularly important and a key part of our strategy.” googletag.cmd.push(function () { googletag.display('text-ad1'); }); The global market for cardiovascular disease treatments was worth a massive $144 billion in 2023 ​ and is projected to grow by 4% per year to $208 billion by 2030. The market growth is being fuelled by increasingly sedentary lifestyles across the population, leading to higher prevalences of cardiovascular diseases in both young and old people. This is the latest deal showcasing major interest from big pharma companies in cardiovascular disease treatments. AstraZeneca kicked off 2023 with a $1.8 billion takeover of the U.S. drug developer CinCor. Other examples include Novo Nordisk’s takeover of the German player Cardior Pharmaceuticals for up to €1 billion ($1.1 billion) in March this year and Bayer acquiring the European marketing rights to a small molecule cardiovascular disease treatment from Eidos Therapeutics of the U.S. for up to $310 million upfront in the same month. AstraZeneca also has major interest in the field of obesity, having inked another $2 billion licensing deal with China’s Eccogene last year for global rights to the latter’s oral once-daily glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist.

AstraZeneca is strengthening its cardiovascular disease pipeline with a $100 million upfront deal for a lipid-targeting drug from China’s CSPC Pharmaceutical Group. The UK drugmaker will get the rights to a small molecule lipoprotein(a) disruptor that’s in preclinical development. The candidate, YS2302018, can stop the formation of a lipid that plays a key role in transporting cholesterol in the bloodstream. CSPC could get up to $1.92 billion in milestones as well as tiered royalties on sales, according to an AstraZeneca press release . The company said the drug can be combined with others in its pipeline, including the small molecule PCSK9 inhibitor AZD0780. That candidate is currently in Phase 2 for dyslipidemia, which refers to a basket of diseases characterized by abnormal levels of lipids. Cardiovascular, renal and metabolic disease has been an important area of growth for AstraZeneca in recent years, with the drugmaker investing in external innovation. In November, the company put down $185 million upfront to license an oral GLP-1 agonist from China’s Eccogene. At the start of 2023, it acquired CinCor Pharma and its hypertension drug candidate, baxdrostat, for $1.8 billion . The drugmaker has also been looking more to China for assets, running counter to what some US peer companies have done. At an investor day event in May, CEO Pascal Soriot said innovation has “exploded” in the country and reiterated AstraZeneca’s commitment to tapping said innovation. His comments came in spite of heightened tensions between the US and China, which came to a head last month with the passing of the Biosecure Act. During the company’s most recent earnings call, Soriot said AstraZeneca aims to treat cardiovascular diseases “holistically,” instead of just focusing on weight loss. The company has said combination approaches will be a key part of that strategy. Other noteworthy players working on next-generation cholesterol treatments include Verve Therapeutics, which is advancing a base editing therapy for heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. Eli Lilly, meanwhile, has a small molecule lp(a) formation inhibitor, muvalaplin, in Phase 2 development. Novartis is also developing a Phase 3 lp(a) targeting antisense therapy that it licensed from Ionis Pharmaceuticals called pelacarsen.

SAN FRANCISCO--( BUSINESS WIRE )--venBio today announced the closing of venBio Global Strategic Fund V (“venBio Fund V”), its fifth life sciences venture capital fund, exceeding its target and closing on approximately $528 million in capital commitments in an oversubscribed fundraise. The firm initiated the fundraise for Fund V in mid-April. Limited partners of Fund V include a broad range of institutional investors comprising sovereign wealth funds, corporate pensions, financial institutions, university endowments, medical institutions, foundations, family offices and funds-of-funds. Under the fund leadership of Managing Partners Richard Gaster, M.D., Ph.D., Corey Goodman, Ph.D., and Aaron Royston, M.D., venBio Fund V will maintain its focus on life science companies that are developing biopharmaceuticals to address unmet medical needs. The venBio team takes an active role with each portfolio company, providing strategic guidance on a range of research, clinical, and business activities. venBio seeks opportunities spanning all stages of clinical development, with a focus on those providing meaningful clinical data and value inflection within three to five years. “With a highly concentrated portfolio and active involvement in each company, we are proud to have helped build companies that have achieved nine FDA drug approvals over the past six years, with many more generating promising clinical efficacy and safety data,” said Dr. Royston. “This cohort of companies has generated significant value for venBio, and it’s motivating to recognize that by turning science into impactful medicine, our firm and our partners have been rewarded.” Dr. Goodman commented, “Our portfolio is directly impacting patient lives, and we could not have achieved this without the ongoing commitment from our limited partners. Fund V is structured to enable us to continue our proven approach of being highly selective in company building, while doubling down on winners around key inflection points, including in crossover rounds and at IPO.” Dr. Gaster added, “We are also delighted to announce that with the closing of Fund V, our colleague Dr. Yvonne Yamanaka has been promoted to Partner. In structuring Fund V, our primary goal was to maintain consistency in our strategy, core team and investment discipline, and we look forward to her continued contributions to the firm.” About venBio Partners Since inception in 2011, venBio has raised roughly $2B billion in capital commitments and led investment rounds in 40+ companies, including Labrys Biologics (acquired by Teva), Aragon Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Johnson & Johnson), Seragon Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Roche), Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AUPH), Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: APLS), Checkmate Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CMPI, acquired by Regeneron), Turning Point Therapeutics (NASDAQ: TPTX, acquired by BMS), Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ: AKRO), Harmony Biosciences (NASDAQ: HRMY), Pharvaris (NASDAQ: PHVS), CinCor Pharma (NASDAQ: CINC, acquired by Astra Zeneca), RayzeBio (NASDAQ: RYZB, acquired by BMS), and many others. For more information, visit the venBio website at www.venbio.com and follow on LinkedIn .