Morphogen-IX, a new biotech company, has received funding to develop a new treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).
A new Cambridge, England-based biotech company called Morphogen-IX received £1.5 million pounds — or about $2.14 million in US dollars — in seed funding to develop a potential new treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).
The therapy results from the 15 years of research at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Medicine at Addenbrooke’s Hospital by professor Nick Morrell and his team.
PAH is a progressive disease identified by narrowed blood vessels that transport blood from the heart to the lungs. The condition forces the heart to work harder in order to pump blood through the arteries, which progressively weakens the heart muscles and eventually leads to heart failure.
The funding is led by Index Ventures, along with Cambridge Innovation Capital and Cambridge Enterprise Seed Funds.
In the United Kingdom, it is estimated that around 6,500 people suffer from PAH, most of whom are women in their 30s. There is no known medical cure for PAH, but current therapies may help relieve symptoms and slow disease progression.
Contrary to most available therapies, the potential new treatment to be developed and licensed by Morphogen-IX directly targets the major pathway involved in the disease according to human genetic studies, and hence could be more efficient.
