A new Ottawa biotech startup is seeking to raise $4 million to produce groundbreaking treatments aimed at curing one of the most common heart rhythm disturbances.
Incorporated in 2022, Rhythm Biotherapeutics is a pre-clinical stage company that is pioneering novel therapies designed to treat and cure atrial fibrillation.
According to the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, the condition – an irregular heart rhythm caused by disturbances in the electrical signals that control a person’s heartbeat – affects more than 500,000 Canadians. If not properly addressed, atrial fibrillation can increase the risk of stroke and heart failure.
OBJ360 (Sponsored)
Giving Guide: Parkdale Food Centre
What we do Parkdale Food Centre (PFC) believes everyone should have the means and opportunity to live a healthy, connected and fulfilling life. Founded 40 years ago, Parkdale Food Centre
Interactive Audio Visual provides dynamic solution for Loyalist Township’s City Council
The pandemic changed the way we work, leading to a newfound flexibility and a hybrid workweek. The ability to work from anywhere influenced companies and organizations to improve their communications
Patients who have recently undergone open-heart surgery are particularly vulnerable to the condition, says Rhythm Biotherapeutics founder and chief executive Dr. Darryl Davis, explaining that up to 50 per cent of people who have procedures such as bypass surgery will experience a cardiac arrhythmia within a few days of the operation.
“It’s a real problem,” says Davis, a cardiologist and researcher at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute.
Most medications now used to treat atrial fibrillation were developed more than 30 years ago and don’t address the root causes of the condition, Davis notes. He and a team of researchers at UOHI are setting out to change that.
For several years, they’ve been working on therapies that use exosomes – particles secreted by cells that carry signals that allow them to communicate with each other – to treat heart rhythm disorders.
Davis says UOHI’s researchers have quickly emerged as global trailblazers in the effort to eradicate atrial fibrillation using exosomes.
“We’re actually the world leaders in this,” he says. “We’re really ahead of the curve here.”
The therapy is produced by growing cells from pieces of heart tissue. The exosomes from those cells are then used to repair scar tissue that forms in the heart and often leads to atrial fibrillation.
Davis calls postoperative atrial fibrillation the ideal test case for the treatment, referring to it as “low-hanging fruit” because the condition is so predictable in those patients.
But Davis believes exosome therapy could one day prevent atrial fibrillation from recurring in virtually any person who experiences the heart rhythm disturbance.
“I think this is going to be a great all-in-one application,” he says.
Rhythm Biotherapeutics, which has five full-time employees, is taking the lead role in developing and testing the therapy in hopes of commercializing it down the road.
So far, the startup has raised $235,000 in seed funding from a group of local investors led by retired life sciences executive Ken Newport, who now serves as executive chair of Ottawa health-tech startups Virica Biotech and TryCycle Data Systems.
Meanwhile, Capital BioVentures, a new not-for-profit organization that provides local biotech ventures with early stage funding, mentorship and lab space, has also given the fledgling firm $100,000 in non-dilutive funding.
Davis says his firm is hoping to raise a total of $4 million to finance further development of the exosome therapy, which will be produced at OHRI’s manufacturing hub at the General campus of The Ottawa Hospital.
The first phase of clinical trials will be conducted at UOHI, and patent applications for the treatment have been filed in the United States, European Union, Japan, South Korea, China, India and Israel as well as Canada.
While Davis and his team are focusing on developing the treatment, they’ve brought in a couple of seasoned tech veterans to lead the business side of the operation.
Management consultant Stephen Fanjoy, who previously served as CEO of cybersecurity firm Devera Logic, joined the organization earlier this year as head of operations and business development.
Meanwhile, Toronto-based Patrick Bedford, who spent a decade as a senior policy analyst and regulatory officer at Health Canada before moving into the private sector, has been named the firm’s head of regulatory affairs.
Davis believes exosome therapy could revolutionize the treatment and prevention of atrial fibrillation. Now, as he looks for capital on both sides of the border, he’s hoping potential funders share his enthusiasm.
“All of this is doable,” he says. “It’s, how do we communicate this effectively to people in order to get people to share our vision and invest?”
