AnaCardio raises about $71M to advance oral heart-failure drug

AnaCardio has closed an approximately $71 million Series B to carry AC01, an experimental oral treatment for chronic advanced heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, through Phase 2b testing. The Stockholm biotech is targeting patients whose weakened hearts still struggle to pump enough blood despite the best tolerated standard therapy. Figures are in US dollars, converted at September 30, 2026 reference rates.

AC01 is meant to make the heart contract more forcefully by activating the ghrelin receptor and sensitizing the muscle to calcium. That sounds like a familiar job for an inotrope, except existing drugs that boost contractility carry risks including abnormal rhythms, ischemia and increased mortality, which generally confines them to short-term use. AnaCardio’s thesis is that an oral drug can improve pumping function without those trade-offs.

The evidence is still early. GOAL-HF1 enrolled 58 people across its Phase 1b and Phase 2a portions; 26 entered the 28-day randomized Phase 2a test of two AC01 doses against placebo. AnaCardio reported that the higher-dose group increased cardiac output 22% from baseline and improved ejection fraction by 4.8 percentage points, versus 1.6 points for placebo, without observed tachycardia, new sustained arrhythmias, ischemia or symptomatic low blood pressure. Those measurements indicate how the heart performed over four weeks, not whether AC01 helps patients live longer or prevents major clinical events.

The drug came to AnaCardio through an in-licensing deal with Helsinn and grew out of Karolinska Institutet research into the ghrelin pathway. AnaCardio remains a clinical-stage developer rather than a seller of an approved therapy; the business now depends on turning that academic mechanism and a small proof-of-concept trial into evidence regulators can use.

That next test, GOAL-HF2, is planned as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of two dose levels over 12 weeks. AnaCardio expects to enroll about 400 patients at roughly 100 sites in 12 countries, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2026, after receiving regulatory clearance. Novo Holdings and the Ljungström family office co-led the round, which the company says fully funds the study and is intended to leave AC01 ready for Phase 3 by 2028.