Inomagen Therapeutics Receives $2.9 Million NIH Grant for Atrial Fibrillation Gene Therapy
News related to:Inomagen Therapeutics, Inc · 2 min read
Inomagen Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing a non-viral gene therapy for atrial fibrillation (AF), has received a $2.9 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance its investigational plasmid-based therapy.
The two-year grant will support key preclinical and manufacturing activities aimed at advancing the program toward a future Investigational New Drug (IND) application. The first year of funding, amounting to approximately $1.4 million, will be used to further characterize dose response and safety in preclinical studies, produce a fully characterized plasmid product under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-compatible conditions, and evaluate therapeutic efficacy in a preclinical model of AF.
Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disorder, affecting 10 million people in the United States alone. Current treatments, including medications and cardiac ablation, have suboptimal efficacy, particularly for patients with more advanced or persistent AF. Inomagen's novel gene therapy approach is being developed to provide a more effective treatment for these patients.
Inomagen has identified molecular mechanisms that contribute to AF and developed therapeutic transgenes designed to target these mechanisms. The company has also developed a proprietary catheter-based electroporation platform to facilitate non-viral gene delivery to cardiac tissue, and has demonstrated attenuation of AF in clinically relevant preclinical studies.
"Our approach is non-ablative and designed to reduce NOX2 expression and the oxidative stress that contributes to atrial remodeling in AF. Combined with our non-viral gene delivery platform, the approach can be transformative in the field of gene therapy."
Eric Sandberg, President and Chief Operating Officer of Inomagen Therapeutics, expressed gratitude for the continued support of the NIH.
Inomagen's investigational therapy is currently in preclinical development and has not yet been tested in humans or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company's lead program combines a novel non-viral gene therapy with a catheter-based delivery platform designed to deliver therapeutic genetic material to cardiac tissue, with the goal of developing durable, disease-modifying therapies for patients with atrial fibrillation.
This grant builds on previous NIH SBIR support of Inomagen's AF program, a $3.67 million grant awarded in 2021. The company's work is focused on addressing the unmet needs of patients with AF, a condition that carries a fivefold increased risk of stroke. With this new funding, Inomagen aims to bring its innovative gene therapy closer to clinical trials and ultimately to patients in need.