COMPANY

Heart failure is a cardiac defect occurring when heart is subjected to exceptional work load, such as in chronic hypertension or myocardial infarct, and it is one of the most frequent pathologies in developed countries affecting approximately 23 million people worldwide and 2 million new cases of heart failure are diagnosed each year worldwide.

The current therapeutical strategies for heart failure are based on drugs that effectively reduce the work load on the failing heart by reducing blood pressure or fluid retention in tissues. There is a great need, however, for innovative drugs capable to counteract the deterioration of cardiac muscle function which is at the basis of heart failure.

The innovative strategy of Target Heart Biotec is based on the discovery of Melusin, a muscle specific protein, with key function in triggering increased muscular power (compensatory cardiac hypertrophy) when heart is subjected to exceptional work load. An International patent has been deposited covering the ability of Melusin to prevent heart failure in pre-clinical animal models. The goal of Target Heart Biotec, led by scientists actively involved both in basic and clinical research, is to validate Melusin as a biopharmaceutical recombinant drug in preclinical studies on animal models of heart failure.