Vasa Therapeutics, an Encinitas, CA-based preclinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies for cardiovascular aging, closed a Seed funding of $6M supplemented by $2.3M non-dilutive grant funding.
The round was led by Orphinic Scientific and included participation from private investments funds NuFund Venture Group, SeedFolio, and others. Orphinic’s chairman of supervisory board, Prof. Jarosław Leszczyszyn, will join Vasa’s board of directors.
The company intends to use the funds to advance novel therapies for cardiovascular diseases.
Led by CEO Artur Plonowski, MD, PhD, CEO, Vasa is a biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics that target pathophysiology of cardiovascular aging:
- VS-041 is a personalized medicine-based treatment of HFpEF. VS-041 shows a 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.
- An inhibitor of CamKIId for heart failure and life-threatening arrhythmias.
FinSMEs
03/01/2024