Celladon Secures $30 Million in Series B Financing.Funding Will Support Clinical Development of Heart Failure ProductLA JOLLA, Calif., Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Celladon Corporation, a biotechnology company developing treatments for heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases, announced today that it had raised $30 million in a Series B venture financing. The funding will enable Celladon to complete preclinical testing and advance MYDICAR(TM), its product to improve calcium handling in failing hearts, toward Phase 1/2 clinical trials. New investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Domain Associates led the round. Existing investors Enterprise Partners Venture Capital and Venrock Associates also participated. Dr. Jesse Treu, General Partner of Domain, and Joseph Lacob, General Partner of Kleiner Perkins, have joined Celladon's Board of Directors. "The investment in Celladon by such high quality investors is testimony to the strong potential of our product and the remarkable progress our team has made since the company was founded 12 months ago," said Celladon Chairman Drew Senyei. "In large animal models of heart failure, MYDICAR(TM) has shown encouraging results. This Series B financing gives us an experienced board and the resources to move the product toward the clinic." "This financing will support development of Celladon's MYDICAR(TM) gene therapy system, which enhances SERCA SERCA Sarcoplasmic/Endoplasmic Reticulum Calcium Atpase SERCA Sarcoplasmic Reticulum (SR) Ca2+ ATPase (major regulator, Ca2+ homeostasis, contractility, cardiac & skeletal muscle) 2a, an important regulator of myocardial myocardial /myo·car·di·al/ (-kahr´de-al) pertaining to the muscular tissue of the heart. myocardial pertaining to the muscular tissue of the heart (the myocardium). contractility contractility /con·trac·til·i·ty/ (kon?trak-til´i-te) capacity for becoming shorter in response to a suitable stimulus. contractility a capacity for becoming short in response to suitable stimulus. ," said Krisztina Zsebo, Celladon's CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . The SERCA2a gene construct is inserted in Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) vectors and delivered to the heart percutaneously using a closed-loop oxygenated system. Celladon Corporation is collaborating with Targeted Genetics Corporation on AAV-based manufacturing and gene product development; and with The Baker Heart Research Institute and V-Kardia, Inc. in development of a percutaneous delivery system. About Celladon Celladon Corporation is a molecular cardiology company based in La Jolla, California. The company's first product, MYDICAR(TM), combines a gene based therapy with novel percutaneous delivery to enhance calcium cycling in the hearts of patients with congestive heart failure congestive heart failure, inability of the heart to expel sufficient blood to keep pace with the metabolic demands of the body. In the healthy individual the heart can tolerate large increases of workload for a considerable length of time. . CONTACT: Krisztina Zsebo, Ph.D., CEO of Celladon Corporation, +1-858-366-4288 Web site: http://www.celladon.net/ |
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