Armgo Raises $35 million to Advance Development of Rare Cardio-Neuromuscular Disease Candidate

Armgo Pharma, a company developing small molecule treatments for cardiac, musculoskeletal, and neurological disorders, completed a $35 million series B financing to fund further clinical development of its lead asset, ARM210, for the treatment of catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia as well as other cardiac and skeletal muscle indications.

Forbion led the financing and was joined by Pontifax and Kurma Partners. Geert-Jan Mulder and Dmitrij Hristodorov from Forbion, Iyona Rajkomar from Pontifax, and Peter Neubeck from Kurma will join the Armgo Board of Directors.

The investment will fund has 2 clinical studies commencing later this year to evaluate ARM210 for the treatment of catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT), a rare form of ventricular tachycardia and sudden death caused by mutations in the ryanodine receptor 2 (RyR2) which controls Ca2+ homeostasis in cells.

Based on the work of Armgo’s founder, Professor Andrew Marks from Colombia University, it is known that mutated RyR2 channels become leaky and lead to a severe form of ventricular arrhythmia. The current cornerstone therapy for CPVT is beta-blockers that reduce heart rate but do not repair the leaky channels that cause the arrythmia seen in most cases of CPVT. Beta-blockers leave a significant proportion of patients with residual arrhythmic burden that increases the risk for sudden cardiac death. Regardless of their efficacy, beta-blockers also cause strong side effects that significantly reduce the quality of life of these patients. To address both unmet needs, ARM210, a potentially disease-modifying, once daily oral pill that repairs leaky RyR2 channels and restores physiological Ca2+ homeostasis will be tested in CPVT patients. ARM210 has successfully passed extensive preclinical development and human safety studies and is considered efficacious and well tolerated.

Armgo will initially aim to develop ARM210 in CPVT to provide a positive clinical proof-of-concept for the mechanism of action that will further de-risk the development of ARM210 in other diseases that are driven by dysregulated Ca2+ homeostasis. These studies will build on an ARM210 phase 1b trial in patients with mutations in RyR1 (RyR1 related myopathy) ongoing at the National Institute of Health. Proceeds from the financing will be allocated to select further cardiac and skeletal muscle indications, ultimately building a pipeline-in-a-product for ARM210.

Author: Rare Daily Staff