Wayne biotech firm received $67.5 million investment to test gene therapy for heart disease
The company is trying to develop a one-time treatment for forms of heart disease that afflict more than 1 million people in the U.S.
XyloCor Therapeutics Inc., a Wayne gene therapy company, received $67.5 million from investors to support Phase 2 trials of a treatment designed to grow new blood vessels in the heart, XyloCor announced Tuesday.
The company is working on treatments for a form of heart pain. Its gene therapy, XC001, will also be tested as a supplemental treatment for patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
Leading the latest round of investment in XyloCor was Jeito Capital, a private equity firm based in Paris. Previous institutional investors EQT, Fountain Healthcare Partners, and Lumira Ventures also participated, bringing total investment in XyloCor to $107.5 million.
XyloCor employs 10 people, and plans to add to staff this year, a spokesperson said. The company’s potential gene therapy product is based on technology licensed from Cornell University.
The company was founded in 2013 and moved to the Philadelphia region in 2016 after it hired Al Gianchetti, a former GlaxoSmithKline vice president for research, as CEO, The Inquirer reported in 2018.
“We are committed to the Philadelphia region and growing our life sciences business here,” Gianchetti said in an email Tuesday.