Human beings have always had a ton of valuable elements at their disposal, and yet their biggest flex till date is that tendency to grow on a consistent basis. This is because the stated tendency has already allowed us to hit upon some huge milestones, with technology proving to be a unique member of the stated group. Technology’s credentials as an anomaly stem from its never-seen-before skill-set, which introduced to all those possibilities that we could have never imagined otherwise. However, the developments to emerge from it were also very much inspired by how we used that assortment of skills in a real-world setting. The latter component was, in fact, what gave the creation a spectrum-wide presence, including a perfectly-timed appearance on our healthcare block. Technology’s foray into healthcare couldn’t have materialized at a better moment, considering it came right during sector’s struggle against its own obsolete structure. The creation and its ingenious ideas were fortunately able to swing the tide, but even after achieving a feat of such huge significance, the medtech concept will just continue bringing the right goods to the table. The same has only turned more and more evident on the back of our recent progression, and there is no reason that a new acquisition shouldn’t push it to take another step.
Rocket Pharmaceuticals, a gene therapy developer based in Cranbury, New Jersey, is officially set to acquire Renovacor, a biotech focused on treating genetically driven form of heart failure, for a sum of around $53 million. Under the agreed financial structure, Rocket Pharmaceuticals will pay $2.60 for each of the acquired shares, a figure that makes up a 36.8% premium over Renovacor’s closing stock price on the day the deal was finalized. Talk about how this acquisition can impact the wider cardiac health landscape, the answer to that keeps Renovacor’s lead drug candidate, REN-001, at the heart of everything. REN-001 uses an adeno-associated virus (AAV) to deliver to cells a healthy version of the BAG3 gene. The company has already conducted preclinical testing in terms of the program, and as per certain reports, it was able to observe optimal production of functional BAG3 protein, and consequentially, an improved cardiac performance. For the future, the company plans on filing an investigational new drug application in the second half of 2022 so to support its critical Phase 1/2 clinical trial.
“The acquisition of Renovacor aligns with our strategy to expand our leadership position in AAV-based gene therapy for cardiac disease and gives us a perfect opportunity to continue on our mission to transform the lives of heart failure patients through the power of gene therapy,” said Gaurav Shah, CEO of Rocket Pharmaceuticals.
Rocket Pharmaceuticals, on its part, has built the company’s cardiac health efforts around a disease called Danon, which is basically a condition where an individual’s cardiac muscles are weakened by mutations to the LAMP2 gene. To resolve the problem, the medtech organization has developed a program by the name of RP-A501 that is currently in Phase 1 testing. Hence, when you put such a meaningful experience alongside Renovacor’s ingenious cardiac health-related technology, you get a package that is more than capable to go up against the burgeoning prevalence of BAG3-associated dilated cardiomyopathy.
