Rhythm Therapeutics, a Chicago-based healthcare technology company, has received a grant for up to $3.67 million to ramp up work on a new gene therapy treatment for atrial fibrillation (AFib). The technique involves identifying specific molecular mechanisms, targeting those mechanisms and then facilitating gene therapy through the use of electroporation.
The company received more than $462,000 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to complete its initial phase of development. It will then be eligible to receive an additional $3.21 million to move on to phase 2.
“AFib is the most common heart rhythm disorder, affecting six million people in the U.S. and 33 million worldwide,” cardiologist Rishi Arora, MD, CEO of Rhythm Therapeutics and a professor at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, said in a prepared statement. “Existing standard of care treatments including drugs and ablation have suboptimal efficacy for patients with AFib. This is especially the case for patients with more advanced AFib or ‘persistent’ AFib, which constitutes nearly half of the AFib patient population. Improving patient care and avoiding readmissions for high-burden patients is increasingly becoming a focus for payers and healthcare systems.”
“The use of targeted electroporation to deliver gene therapy to the heart is an exciting addition to the field of gene therapy and we believe this grant award enables Rhythm Therapeutics to complete important steps necessary before its promising approach can be tested in the clinic,” added Robert C. Moen, MD, PhD, the grant’s principal investigator.
Rhythm Therapeutics also announced plans to move its research to a new location in Chicago, where it will gain access to a wet lab, office space and other key resources.
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.