Genetico Center (part of the Artgen Biotech group) invests in the biotechnology startup Cardiogenex, which specializes in creating gene therapy drugs for the treatment of hereditary diseases. The investment amount will be 50 million rubles.
The funds will be directed towards the validation of models of cardiomyopathic diseases, conducting animal studies to select the most effective candidate drugs, and preparing for the start of preclinical studies.
Innovative Drug Portfolio
Cardiogenex’s developments are aimed at creating medicines for the therapy of heart muscle pathologies (cardiomyopathies), which currently have no effective treatment. The company’s pipeline includes three drugs:
- CDX001 — for the treatment of Danon disease;
- CDX002 — for the therapy of MYBPC3-associated hypertrophic cardiomyopathy;
- CDX003 — for the treatment of hereditary and sporadic forms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).
Medical Significance
The development of innovative medicinal products for the treatment of HCM is a critically important task. Existing methods provide only a symptomatic effect, and surgical intervention is invasive. The emergence of new drugs will allow targeting the cause of the disease, which is particularly relevant given that there are about 730,000 patients with this diagnosis in Russia.
Developer Strategy
Genetico Center (a resident of the Medtech Technopark) launched its own biotechnology division in 2023. The company focuses on the early stages of developing candidate gene therapy drugs for the treatment of orphan diseases, eye pathologies, hereditary cardiomyopathies, and neurodegenerative diseases.
