• Jeito Capital co-leads oversubscribed financing
• Corteria, a late preclinical stage company, is developing first-in-class therapies with promising novel approaches for unaddressed heart failure subpopulations, addressing high unmet medical needs
• Jeito Capital marks its first investment in the cardiovascular space, further diversifying its strong portfolio

Paris, France, September 7th 2023 – Jeito Capital (“Jeito”), a global leading investment firm dedicated to healthcare and biopharma, announced today that it is co-leading a EUR 65m (USD 71m[1]) Series A financing round in Corteria Pharmaceuticals (“Corteria” or the “Company”), a biopharmaceutical company specialized in the development of transformative therapies for unaddressed heart failure subpopulations.

The oversubscribed financing was co-led by new investors Jeito and Orbimed, with participation from existing investors Kurma Partners, Fountain Healthcare Partners, V-Bio Ventures, Invivo Capital, and Omnes Capital.

Corteria was founded in 2021 by Sanofi’s former head of cardiovascular research, Philip Janiak and Marie-Laure Ozoux, former cardiovascular project leader at Sanofi, around two cardiovascular programs in-licensed from Sanofi[2].

Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance the Company’s heart failure pipeline into the clinic.

Since its inception, Corteria’s pipeline has expanded rapidly and comprises today three first-in-class therapies:

• A once-daily subcutaneous CRF2[3] agonist for the treatment of Worsening Heart Failure. It is anticipated that Corteria will bring this lead asset, into clinical trials to validate the treatment pathway in early 2024.

• A once-monthly subcutaneous CRF2[3] agonist, specifically developed for Right Heart Failure treatment. This compound also holds potential for broader applications in chronic cardiometabolic diseases, particularly those with coexisting conditions such as obesity and sarcopenia.

• An AVP (arginine vasopressin) neutralizing monoclonal antibody for the treatment of Acute Heart Failure with Hyponatremia.

Jeito Capital has partnered with Corteria Pharmaceuticals, reflecting its vision to champion promising French and European biopharma companies with the potential to become global market leaders especially in Europe and the US. This collaboration marks Jeito’s first investment in the cardiovascular space, where emerging innovations and a supportive regulatory environment offer transformative potential for patient outcomes. Andreas Wallnoefer, Partner at Jeito Capital and with strong industry experience in the cardiovascular field, will join Corteria’s Board of Directors.

Dr. Rafaèle Tordjman, MD, PhD, Founder and CEO of Jeito Capital, commented: “With our first investment in the cardiovascular field, we are partnering with Corteria Pharmaceuticals, a French company with a global vision to address well-defined sub-populations of heart failure, with an urgent need for new and effective treatments. Corteria’s strong pipeline of assets, backed by a dedicated and highly experienced team with a proven track record in cardiovascular development, represents an exciting opportunity to expand treatment options. Their commitment to transformative therapies as a leading French biopharma with global aspirations perfectly aligns with Jeito’s mission, and we see great potential to make a meaningful difference in patient lives.”

Andreas Wallnoefer, Partner at Jeito Capital added: “Despite current treatments, heart failure is a progressing disease that impacts severely the lives of many patients and remains one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Corteria focuses on translating important therapeutic innovations in cardiology into clinical practice. Our investment in Corteria reflects Jeito’s commitment to address significant unmet needs in the realm of cardiology. We are excited to join forces with Corteria’s dedicated team to develop a portfolio of medicines with important clinical benefits for patients.”

“This financing marks a major milestone in our mission to bring therapies to heart failure subpopulations with high unmet needs,” said Philip Janiak, Founder and CEO of Corteria Pharmaceuticals. “We are extremely grateful to Jeito and OrbiMed as our new investors for their trust in our science and team and to our existing investors for their support and commitment since inception. We are looking forward to working all together to develop next generation transformative therapeutics.”

About Jeito Capital

Jeito Capital is a global leading Private Equity company with a patient benefit driven approach that finances and accelerates the development and growth of ground-breaking medical innovation. Jeito empowers and supports managers through its expert, integrated, multi-talented team and through the investment of significant capital to ensure the growth of companies, building market leaders in their respective therapeutic areas with accelerated patients’ access globally, especially in Europe and the United States. Jeito Capital has €534 million under management and a rapidly growing portfolio of investments. Jeito Capital is based in Paris with a presence in Europe and the United States.

For more information, please visit www.jeito.life or follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn.

About Corteria Pharmaceuticals

Founded in 2021, Corteria Pharmaceuticals is a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class drugs in heart failure subpopulations. Despite some improvements in the management of this serious disease, the prevalence of heart failure keeps increasing with more than 60 million patients worldwide. Corteria’s strategy implies innovative patient stratification and target selection based on human evidence and a better understanding of the disease biology in patients with a focus on worsening and acute heart failure and right heart failure.

More information available at: www.corteriapharma.com

[1] Applying an 1.0886 EUR/USD exchange rate as of 30 August 2023 (Banque de France) rounded to $71m

[2] CRF2 peptide agonist and AVP neutralizing monoclonal antibody programs

[3] Corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 2

For further information please contact:

Consilium Strategic Communications
Mary-Jane Elliott /
Davide Salvi / Kris Lam
Jeito@consilium-comms.com
Tél. : +44 (0) 20 3709 5700