Jeito Capital leads $67.5m Series B financing for cardiovascular gene therapy

The new year is already seeing strong funding in early-stage companies. Following the Series A financing to Orbis Medicines, the French Jeito Capital is now also investing. Jeito is a leading global independent private equity firm based in Paris specialising in biopharma and has announced its leadership in a Series B financing round for XyloCor Therapeutics, a US-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative gene therapies for cardiovascular disease. Existing institutional investors including EQT, Fountain Healthcare Partners, and Lumira Ventures are also involved in the round.

XyloCor Therapeutics is based in the small town of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, named after the Prussian ruler Frederick II, “The Great.” More modern than its name is the cutting-edge research and development happening here: XyloCor has developed a novel therapy for patients with refractory angina. Their lead asset, XC001 (encoberminogene rezmadenovec), is an innovative adenoviral vector that expresses multiple isoforms of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). XC001 serves as a vehicle to stimulate and augment native tissue revascularization mechanisms, specifically targeting individuals who have shown an inadequate natural response to restore blood flow after ischemia.

The US$67.5m investment will support a randomised, double-blind Phase 2b clinical trial (EXACT-2) of XC001 in refractory angina. Additionally, the financing will fund a second randomized, double-blind Phase 2 trial of XC001 as an adjunctive treatment to coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

“XyloCor’s transformative potential in cardiology perfectly fits with our strategy aimed at accelerating the emergence of potential game changers”, said Rafaèle Tordjman, Founder and CEO of Jeito Capital. Through this investment, Jeito aims to strengthen its expertise in cardiology by developing breakthrough treatments for patients with severe cardiovascular conditions.

Albert Gianchetti, CEO of XyloCor added: “With this financing, we can accelerate our clinical development of XC001, completing two Phase 2 clinical trials, and achieve our mission to help people with cardiovascular disease who have no treatment options.”