FIRST participates in 1.8 million seed investment for the discovery of two new drugs for heart failure

New treatment for heart failure
Heart failure affects 55 million people worldwide, with a healthcare cost of more than €30 billion per year in Europe alone. Many of the current available medicines merely treat the symptoms of disease rather than targeting the underlying cause. Although in recent years there has been an attempt to find drugs that target the underlying biological mechanisms of the disease this has been hampered by the lack of good human predictive models for use in target validation and drug discovery. River BioMedics believes their human-predictive in vitro 3D heart models will address this issue. With the current financing round, River BioMedics will start two drug discovery programs on cardiac specific targets.

About RegMed XB and DCVA collaboration
New Business Development Director RegMed XB, prof. Dr. Marianne van der Steen: “I am excited to see that we can support a start-up company working in the translational field of stem cell technology. The knowledge of stem cell technology built up by River Biomedics in Twente can lead towards discovery of new therapies for cardiac diseases. This is fully aligned to the remit of RegMed XB which is dedicated to bring regenerative medicine solutions to patients.”

Rob de Ree, Valorisation Officer at the DCVA commented: “The DCVA is very excited that the FIRST fund supports the River BioMedics team on their journey to further build the strong stem cell-based platform that has been developed by River BioMedics’s scientific founders for drug development in cardiovascular diseases. River BioMedics is now well positioned to leverage their technology for the development of novel therapeutics with a focus on heart failure. The investment in River BioMedics is also a strong confirmation of the synergy between the DCVA and Regmed XB.”

About River BioMedics
River BioMedics was founded in 2020 as a spin-out from the University of Twente’s department of Applied Stem Cell Technologies. The team has built a suite of 3D cardiac models including, 3D cardiac strips, heart-on-a-chip and the highly innovative mini heart, to support their drug discovery programs and enable partnerships. The company will be based in Enschede, The Netherlands and operate out of its offices at the campus of the University of Twente (Enschede).

About the funders

• Fonds InvesteringsRijpe STarters (FIRST) is a pre-seed fund that finances pioneering scientists in The Netherlands active in the emerging fields of regenerative medicine and cardiovascular diseases.
• FIRST is founded by Regenerative Medicine Crossing Borders (RegMed XB) and the Dutch Cardiovascular Alliance (DCVA) with financial support of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. BioGeneration Ventures (BGV) supports the FIRST fund as registered fund manager, making available its network, expertise, and facilities.
• KIKK Capital invests in young companies that have developed and recently launched a new product, process or service.
• Oost NL (East Netherlands Development Agency) is an agency that focuses its activities and projects on strengthening and stimulating the economy of the provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel, the Netherlands.