Rhythm Therapeutics rebrands as Inomagen Therapeutics

Rhythm Therapeutics, a biotechnology company pioneering a revolutionary gene therapy to improve the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF), announced today a rebranding as Inomagen Therapeutics. Atrial fibrillation is characterized by an irregular and often very rapid heart rhythm (arrhythmia) that can lead to blood clots in the heart, and increase the risk of stroke, heart failure, and other heart-related complications.

“Inom” is Swedish for ‘inside,’ which describes our mission to leverage the company’s novel non-viral gene therapy approach to treating Persistent AF patients where the standard of care treatments (e.g. ablation) are largely ineffective,” said Dr. Rishi Arora, CEO of Inomagen and Professor of Medicine, Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology at Northwestern University – The Feinberg School of Medicine.

“We are also excited to announce that we have submitted Phase 1 Segment interim data to the NIH this month and are planning on Phase 1 completion by the end of this year.” The Phase 1 Segment’s goals are to determine gene doses and electroporation parameters – transmural atrial gene delivery via a trans-venous approach.

In April 2021, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute awarded Inomagen $462,689 to complete the Phase 1 segment of development, which includes optimizing gene doses and electroporation parameters required for atrial gene delivery. Upon successful completion of the Phase 1 segment, Inomagen will be eligible to receive an additional $3,212,600 in NIH funding to carry out the Phase 2 segment, which will include determining optimal dose of gene therapy required to attenuate established electrical remodeling in AF, determining the duration of gene efficacy, and assessing the toxicology profile of targeted genes.

Under Dr. Arora’s leadership, Inomagen has identified major molecular mechanisms contributing to AF, identified trans-genes to selectively target these mechanisms, and developed a novel method of facilitating gene delivery via electroporation. This has decreased AF in clinically relevant, large animal models of atrial fibrillation.

Inomagen is headquartered at Portal Innovations, a life science focused venture development engine located in Chicago’s Fulton Market neighborhood. Portal Innovation provides crafted capital in the form of wet lab & office space, seed investments, managerial expertise, and an extensive partner network to promising early-stage life science companies developing life saving technologies for patients.