Business

AnaCardio raises EUR 62.5m to push ghrelin agonist AC01 toward Phase III

Edited by Robert McTiernan··2 min read
AnaCardio raises EUR 62.5m to push ghrelin agonist AC01 toward Phase III

Sweden-based AnaCardio has raised EUR 62.5 million in a Series B financing co-led by Novo Holdings and the Ljungström family office to advance lead candidate AC01 through Phase IIb development toward Phase III readiness.

The round included participation from originator Helsinn alongside existing investors Pureos Bioventures, Sound Bioventures, Industrifonden, Flerie and LLD Nybohov Invest AB and new investor Innovestor Life Science. The company said the proceeds will fully fund AC01 through Phase IIb clinical development in chronic advanced heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), with the aim of delivering a Phase III-ready asset by 2028. AnaCardio has raised around EUR 100 million to date.

AC01, which the company described as a first-in-class oral ghrelin receptor agonist, is designed to improve cardiac contractility through a calcium-sensitizing mechanism without the arrhythmia, ischemia and mortality concerns that restrict conventional inotropes to short-term use. The program builds on research led by Professor Lars Lund at Karolinska Institutet on ghrelin signaling in HFrEF, and the small molecule was in-licensed from Helsinn and is now developed by AnaCardio as its lead program.

The AllSci BriefFree, systematic R&D and deal news. Daily.

Clinical proof of concept came from the Phase Ib/IIa GOAL-HF1 study, whose results were published in The Lancet in June 2026. On Day 28, patients receiving AC01 3 mg twice daily showed a 22% increase in cardiac output from baseline and a 4.8 percentage point improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction, compared with 1.6 percentage points for placebo, with no tachycardia, new-onset sustained arrhythmias, ischemia or symptomatic hypotension observed. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase IIb GOAL-HF2 study is expected to enroll its first participant in Q4 2026 to evaluate two dose levels over 12 weeks in approximately 400 patients across approximately 100 sites in 12 countries in North America and Europe, following regulatory clearance to begin the trial.

Access the AllSci platform to explore the science behind the news.

Spot something wrong? Report an issue with this article