Restoring the failing heart's energy supply
CoArdia is developing first-in-class PANK1 activators — a new medicine for heart failure built on the newly discovered mechanism behind one of cardiology's most important drug classes.
A clinical paradox
SGLT2 inhibitors deliver remarkable benefit in heart failure — yet SGLT2 itself is not expressed in the heart. For years, no one knew why the drugs worked in heart failure.
The discovery
Research from the Arany Lab at Penn Medicine, published in Science, identified the answer: these drugs directly activate PANK1, a gatekeeper enzyme of the heart's energy metabolism.
A new medicine
CoArdia is designing selective PANK1 activators to deliver the cardiac benefit directly – without the liabilities that come from acting on SGLT2 itself.
The foundational science was published in Science in August 2026 by our scientific founders at the University of Pennsylvania. Read the paper