Key Takeaways
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 17.9 million fatalities annually, as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has received relatively little attention from companies utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) in drug discovery despite its prevalence.
That’s awesome! Using AI for heart disease is a game changer!
— NFTPerks 🇵🇹 (@NftPerks) September 10, 2024
CardiaTec, a Cambridge University spinout, is addressing this gap by applying AI to discover new treatments specifically for CVD.
CardiaTec was founded in 2021 by Raphael Peralta, Thelma Zablocki, and Namshik Han.
Peralta and Zablocki, both graduates with an MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise from Cambridge, joined forces with Han, a lecturer in AI drug discovery and head of AI at the Milner Therapeutics Institute at Cambridge University.
Agree, need more ppl working on medical AI. Now I wished I have medical background to work on this kind of stuff. Must be fascinating
— LillyLilly (@LillyLiCT) May 27, 2023
Han’s background spans machine learning, computational biology, cancer genomics, and epigenomics, making him well-placed to lead the technical aspects of CardiaTec’s mission.
A Focus on Cardiovascular Disease
CardiaTec’s goal is to tackle the challenge of developing effective treatments for cardiovascular diseases, which are often underrepresented in the current wave of AI-driven drug discovery efforts.
Given the massive mortality rate associated with CVDs, CardiaTec aims to meet an urgent, unmet need in the pharmaceutical industry.
The company recently raised $6.5 million in a seed funding round led by Montage Ventures, with participation from Continuum Health Ventures, Laidlaw Ventures, Apex Ventures, and several angel investors.
This funding builds on an earlier $1.8 million pre-seed round and will be used to expand CardiaTec’s data collection capabilities, validate its therapeutic targets in the lab, and grow its team based in Cambridge.
I’m looking forward to many advancements in medical AI. This is exciting stuff!
— Min Choi (@minchoi) May 29, 2023
The company plans to focus on identifying and testing drug candidates, a process that could take several years to fruition.
Harnessing AI to Decode the Biology of Heart Disease
CardiaTec is taking a data-driven approach to understanding the complexities of cardiovascular diseases. The company is creating what it describes as the “largest human heart tissue-multi-omics dataset” by partnering with 65 hospitals across the UK and the US.
Agreed! Too many AI startups working on SaaS Sales tools rather than building a product that could impact hundreds of millions of lives.
— austin payne (@austinpayneut) May 28, 2023
These partnerships provide CardiaTec with access to human heart tissues, a resource that has historically been challenging to obtain due to ethical, consent, and logistical barriers.
By comparing healthy heart tissues with those affected by conditions like plaque buildup that lead to heart attacks, CardiaTec is generating the data needed for its AI models.
The company’s approach integrates multiple types of biological data, including genetics, epigenetics, gene expression, and protein function.
This comprehensive analysis allows CardiaTec to identify potential targets for new drugs more accurately and efficiently than traditional methods. The company hopes that its AI-powered models will help reduce drug development’s high costs and failure rates.
Deloitte estimates that the average cost of bringing a drug from discovery to market is around $2.2 billion, with 90% of potential drug candidates failing during the process. CardiaTec’s method aims to lower these costs by improving the early identification of viable therapeutic targets.
This has been happening for years dude.
— Dave Batista (@MegahertzSalute) May 28, 2023
Early Signs of Promise in AI-Driven Drug Discovery
While AI has yet to produce drugs that have reached the market, the early indications are encouraging. In recent months, several startups have attracted substantial investment, such as Xaira, which raised $1 billion, and Formation Bio, which received $372 million in funding.
Meanwhile, Insilico Medicine, a heavily VC-backed pharmaceutical company, recently identified a new drug candidate for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a rare lung disease.
Yes it will have huge impact !
— Apurv (@toapurv) May 27, 2023
AI played a crucial role in designing the drug’s chemical structure and determining its cellular targets. The drug is currently in Phase II trials in the US and China.
These developments reflect a broader trend in AI-driven drug discovery, with companies exploring treatments for various conditions, including new antibiotics for superbugs and drugs for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
However, most AI efforts have focused on areas like oncology, leaving cardiovascular disease relatively underexplored. CardiaTec aims to fill this gap and bring much-needed attention to the treatment of heart disease.
#MedicalAI saves lives but only when doctors and patients accept it, and they haven’t done so yet.
— WellAI (@RealWellAI) May 27, 2023
Looking Ahead
With its recent funding, CardiaTec is well-positioned to advance its research and development efforts.
The company plans to continue building its multi-omics dataset and refining its AI models to identify promising drug candidates.
Wow. Heart health is very near and dear to my hurt (pun intended). This is truly marvellous. I hope it’ll be implemented by medicine quickly.
— Daily Impressions (@dailyimpr) May 27, 2023
Although developing these drugs and bringing them to market may take several years, CardiaTec’s approach represents a step toward improving the understanding and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
As the company moves forward, it underscores the potential of AI to uncover new insights into the complex biology of heart disease and offer new hope for millions of patients worldwide.
As a heart attack survivor I second this!!
— Carlito (@crypitos) May 29, 2023
By focusing on an area of drug discovery that other AI companies have primarily overlooked, CardiaTec is not only contributing to scientific knowledge but also addressing a critical public health need.
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