Medera Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced today the completion of patient dosing in its MUSIC-HFrEF Phase 1/2a clinical trial evaluating SRD-001, a gene therapy candidate for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).
HFrEF represents approximately half of the estimated 64.3 million heart failure cases worldwide and is currently considered an incurable condition with significant unmet medical needs. The completion of dosing marks a significant milestone in the development of potential new treatment options for this widespread cardiovascular condition.
Trial Design and Preliminary Results
The MUSIC-HFrEF trial is an open-label, uncontrolled study investigating SRD-001 across two patient cohorts. Six patients received a low dose (3×10^13 viral genomes per patient) in Cohort A, while three patients received a high dose (4.5×10^13 viral genomes per patient) in Cohort B.
Preliminary data presented at the 7th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) in May 2024 showed promising results from a subset of treated patients. The therapy demonstrated:
- An acceptable safety profile in patients with advanced heart failure
- Clinically meaningful improvements in multiple metrics of heart function
- Sustained patient health benefits at both six and 12 months post-infusion
"The completion of enrollment in the Phase 1/2a trial marks a crucial milestone for this cardiac gene therapy trial in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. We are encouraged that this therapy may help patients with advanced heart failure who have few therapeutic options," said Brian Jaski, M.D., the Principal Investigator of MUSIC-HFrEF and Director of Cardiology at San Diego Cardiac Center.
Ronald Li, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Medera, expressed optimism about the results: "We are very excited and encouraged by these results, which indicate that our various new designs such as optimized dosages seem to be making differences."
The company plans to report topline data with 12-month follow-up in the near future.
SRD-001: Mechanism and Target Population
SRD-001 represents an innovative approach to treating heart failure. The investigational gene therapy contains an adeno-associated virus serotype 1 (AAV1) vector that expresses the transgene for sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca²⁺ ATPase 2a isoform (SERCA2a).
The therapy is being evaluated in anti-AAV1 neutralizing antibody (NAb) negative subjects with:
- Ischemic or non-ischemic cardiomyopathy
- New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III/IV symptoms of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction
Understanding Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction
HFrEF is characterized by the heart's inability to pump a sufficient supply of blood to meet the body's demands. This complex cardiovascular syndrome impairs normal cardiac function and, once established, is generally progressive and irreversible.
Patients with HFrEF experience debilitating symptoms, frequent hospitalizations, and high mortality rates. Current treatment options primarily manage symptoms rather than address the underlying cause, highlighting the urgent need for disease-modifying therapies like SRD-001 that aim to reverse the pathophysiology of HFrEF.
Medera's Therapeutic Approach
Medera operates through two business units: Novoheart and Sardocor. Novoheart utilizes its proprietary "mini-Heart" technology for disease modeling and drug discovery, enabling human-specific disease modeling without species-specific differences in accordance with the FDA Modernization Act 2.0.
Sardocor focuses on clinical development of novel therapies. Beyond the HFrEF program, Sardocor has received FDA clearance for two additional AAV-based cardiac gene therapy clinical trials:
- Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF) with Fast Track Designation
- Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy-associated Cardiomyopathy (DMD-CM) with Orphan Drug Designation
The company's pipeline also includes four preclinical gene therapy candidates and three preclinical small molecule candidates targeting various cardiac, pulmonary, and vascular diseases.
Corporate Developments
In September 2024, Medera announced a definitive merger agreement with Keen Vision Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ: KVAC, KVACW), potentially providing additional resources to advance its clinical programs.
The MUSIC-HFrEF trial represents a significant step forward in addressing a major global health challenge through innovative gene therapy approaches. If successful, SRD-001 could offer new hope for millions of patients with limited treatment options for this serious cardiovascular condition.
