About CoArdia
A cardiac metabolism company founded to translate a landmark discovery into a first-in-class therapy for heart failure.
The science
SGLT2 inhibitors, originally developed for type 2 diabetes, have become foundational therapy in heart failure — reducing death and hospitalization in patients with both preserved and reduced ejection fraction, with or without diabetes. But the mechanism was a mystery: SGLT2 is not expressed in heart tissue.
In 2026, researchers in the Arany Lab at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania solved the puzzle. Working with human heart tissue, they showed that SGLT2 inhibitors directly bind and activate pantothenate kinase 1 (PANK1), the rate-limiting enzyme in coenzyme A synthesis. Activating PANK1 restores the failing heart's ability to convert fuel into energy — and this activation is both necessary and sufficient for the improved contractility these drugs produce in human heart cells. The work was published in Science in August 2026.
Our approach
CoArdia was founded by the scientists behind the discovery, together with experienced biotech leadership, to develop selective PANK1 activators. By engaging PANK1 directly — rather than through the incidental activity of a diabetes drug — we aim to deliver greater cardiac benefit while avoiding the known side effects tied to SGLT2 inhibition.
The company is in-licensing foundational intellectual property from the University of Pennsylvania and is advancing a discovery-stage program of novel PANK1 activator chemistry as a first mover in this new field of cardiac metabolic medicine.