Cardurion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

‘Undruggable’ targets aren’t just in oncology. Cardurion Pharmaceuticals is hoping to become the first to successfully develop a treatment for a genetic heart condition that researchers have been studying for decades. The startup is working on a rare heart disease known as catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia — CPVT for short — that can lead to abnormal heart rhythms and is estimated to impact one in 10,000 people. To do so, it’s using a CaMKII inhibitor and has become the first to put such a drug into human studies. It’s not an easy target. CaMKII is a protein kinase that is involved in both heart function and human memory — meaning that any drug going after it has to be extra precise. Cardurion CEO Peter Lawrence told Endpoints News that big pharma companies they are in contact with “were really intrigued by the fact we were able to get into human clinical testing with the CaMKII inhibitor because other major pharmas and biotechs have tried for a very long time — and it was hard to do.” Cardurion’s plan to develop the next generation of heart disease treatments involves a mix of internal research and external hunting. Founded by cardiologist and seasoned industry executive Michael Mendelsohn, who previously led cardiovascular research at Merck Research Laboratories, Cardurion launched in 2017 through a partnership deal with Takeda. As part of that partnership, a cardiovascular research team from Takeda’s site in Shonan, Japan turned into Cardurion’s drug discovery unit. Along with its CaMKII inhibitor, the Massachusetts-based company has clinical trials for heart failure studying two PDE9 inhibitors, one of which was a failed blood disorder treatment that Cardurion is looking to revive. In May, the company touted biomarker results from its Phase 2 study of one of those inhibitors. The company declined to disclose exactly how much money it has raised, beyond saying it’s somewhere north of $500 million. That includes a $260 million Series B that Cardurion announced in July and part of a $300 million commitment from Bain. “What we do is translate our expertise in cardiovascular signaling pathways into therapeutics for our patients. That is the scientific thesis that undergirds everything that we do,” Lawrence said. “We are constantly thinking about what could be attractive targets to pursue in various diseases. And we don’t talk a lot about what we’re looking at, because it’s proprietary, but it is no different than oncology.” Key backers: Ascenta Capital, Blue Owl Capital, Delos Capital, Digitalis Ventures, Farallon Capital Management, Fidelity Management, GV, Millennium Management, New Enterprise Associates, The Invus Group, Bain Capital Life Sciences and Bain Capital Private Equity, Polaris Partners, Takeda Pharmaceuticals Find the full list of 2024 Endpoints 11 winners here .

Bain Capital Life Sciences has unveiled an eye-popping $3 billion fourth fund. With a strong track record for identifying diamonds in the rough, Bain Capital Life Sciences (BCLS) has become a powerful force in biotech investing, pulling in more funding for each of its big-money rounds.On Tuesday, eight-year-old BCLS revealed that it has raised $3 billion in commitments for its fourth funding round, with $2.5 billion coming from new and current investors and $500 million from its partners and affiliates.“The fund will draw on BCLS’ multi-decade investment experience to invest scale capital globally in transformative medicines, medical devices, diagnostics and life sciences tools that have the potential to improve the lives of patients with unmet medical needs,” BCLS said in a release.Back in 2017, BCLS’ initial funding round drew $720 million, followed by rounds of $1.1 billion in 2019 and $1.9 billion two years after that. Since its inception, BCLS has invested in more than 70 companies that have conducted more than 100 clinical trials and nabbed 16 regulatory approvals, according to the investor. Recently, the firm participated in Cardurion Pharmaceuticals' $260 million series B after putting down $300 million for the cardiovascular-focused biotech in 2021.Bain’s playbook includes backing companies that need money to wrap up clinical trials or grow their geographic footprint. BCLS also makes bets on public businesses it perceives to be undervalued. Additionally, BCLS gives some Big Pharma companies a way to advance assets without committing internal resources. The best example of this came in 2018 when BCLS helped create Pfizer neuroscience spinout Cerevel Therapeutics. The company became public in 2020 and was bought out by AbbVie for $8.7 billion in a deal that wrapped up last month.

Bain Capital Life Sciences has reeled in about $3 billion for its fourth fund, Endpoints News has learned. The Boston-based firm has been on a spree in recent quarters. Its portfolio companies Aiolos Bio , Cerevel , EyeBio and Jnana Therapeutics have all inked or completed M&A exits to GSK, AbbVie, Merck and Otsuka, respectively. The size of the fund was described to Endpoints by people familiar with the raise who spoke on condition of anonymity. The fund is close in size to the $3.6 billion that Flagship Pioneering unveiled earlier this summer, and to the $3 billion ARCH Venture Partners is seeking for its 13th fund, according to SEC filings. Bain’s new fund comes in above an original target of about $2 billion, with a hard cap of $2.5 billion, according to documents from the New Jersey State Investment Council in April. The firm quickly became an integral name in life sciences investing after its inception eight years ago. It has backed more than 70 companies to date. Its third fund, announced in August 2021, came in at $1.9 billion . The new fund had more demand, including more geographic diversity, according to the people familiar with the matter. And there’s still an ample amount from the third fund to continue deploying into existing portfolio companies, they said. While larger in size, the strategy will be much of the same, they said. That includes four main uses: inflection capital for key phases of drug development; growth capital to expand into new geographies and commercialize products; new company formation; and “fallen angels” — helping private and public companies that need a reset. There are more opportunities to do pharma carve-outs like Cerevel, the Bain-backed spinout of Pfizer’s neuroscience assets, according to the individuals. Many large drugmakers have announced pipeline prioritizations in recent years, honing in on specific therapeutic areas and modalities, which leaves room for creating new companies out of shelved or sidelined assets. Bain has also invested in obesity, forging a partnership earlier this year with Atlas and RTW. The trio licensed assets from China-based Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals and is setting up a new company in the US to investigate the experimental medicines, Endpoints reported in May . The new company, code-named Hercules CM for the moment, has $400 million in funding, the second-largest private financing so far this year. It’s also been behind more of this year’s megarounds, including Avistone Biotechnology and Cardurion Pharmaceuticals . One of the firm’s portfolio companies, cell therapy startup Kyverna, joined the Nasdaq in a February IPO. Other names in its portfolio are looking at the IPO process or could do so in the coming 12-18 months, according to one of the sources. Overseeing the portfolio is a relatively big investment operation, with more than two dozen Bain employees focused on drug developers, medical device makers, diagnostics companies and others in the field. Historically, about 20% of funds have gone toward life sciences companies outside of biotech. About $500 million of the new fund comes from Bain partners, employees and affiliates. The remainder comes from existing and new investors.