CardiNor Receives USD 0.75M to Develop “Missing Link” CV Risk Test

This neuropeptide is generating significant interest as a potential missing link in the assessment and management of the 30 million patients with arrhythmia. Earlier this year, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) published an editorial titled “Will Secretoneurin be the next big thing?”, referring to its potential role in complementing troponin and BNP as a third key frontline test. This is further supported by presentations at this week’s American Heart Association (AHA) meeting in Orlando.

The company’s management, together with the scientific team from Akershus University Hospital in Oslo, brings valuable experience from developing both these tests as well as another key biomarker, homocysteine, into the Secretoneurin program.

Publications by leading cardiac experts have shown that elevated levels of secretoneurin (SN) in blood are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular (CVD) mortality. According to CardiNor CEO Dag Christiansen, this is encouraging news, as the current testing regime lacks the desired sensitivity and specificity for proper patient selection in cardiac rhythm management:

“It is known that 70% of patients who receive an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) do not actually need the device. This results in unnecessary patient stress and device costs in the EU of USD 10 billion. By developing a simple blood-based Secretoneurin test, we believe we can dramatically change this situation and provide the missing link in cardiovascular risk assessment.”

A US patent covering the commercial use of secretoneurin in CVD has been granted, and an EU patent is pending.

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. It is estimated that approximately 42 million people will have heart failure by 2018. Currently, the cost to US society alone exceeds USD 31 billion.