iCardiac Technologies signs deal with Pfizer

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Medical technology firm iCardiac Technologies Inc. has inked a multiyear, multimillion-dollar deal with Pfizer Inc., which includes an undisclosed equity investment in the local firm.
The alliance will involve the development and validation of electrocardiogram-based biomarkers, using iCardiac Technologies’ software technology platform, Comprehensive Analysis of Repolarization Signal. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The companies Monday announced the agreement at the Cardiac Safety Assessment Summit conference in Arlington, Va.
Under the agreement, iCardiac and Pfizer will collaborate on a research program that includes a series of studies. Over the term of the alliance, iCardiac will receive an equity investment and technology license payment, and research and development funding. It will retain commercial rights to the validated technology platform and new biomarkers for future application in cardiac safety clinical trials and technologies, officials said. Biomarkers are often used to measure the effects or study the progress of a disease.
A cross-licensing arrangement will allow iCardiac Technologies to receive rights to ECG analysis technologies developed within Pfizer. The long-term goal of the deal is to improve the precision, increase the speed and decrease costs of cardiac safety clinical trials.
“We are extremely pleased that Pfizer has partnered with iCardiac in further developing iCardiac’s suite of ECG-based biomarkers and its COMPAS platform technology for advancing the field of cardiac safety testing in pharmaceutical research and development,” said Alexandra Latypova, co-founder and executive vice president of iCardiac Technologies, in a statement.
Dubbed COMPAS, the iCardiac Technologies’ technology was developed over a decade at the University of Rochester’s Heart Research Follow-Up Program. Researchers use it to analyze data from ECGs and other types of heart monitors, to test the safety and efficacy of drugs. Jean-Philippe Couderc, chief technology officer at iCardiac Technologies and assistant director of UR’s Heart Research Follow-Up Program, is the principal inventor. UR last year licensed the technology to iCardiac Technologies.
“Cardiac safety is one of the most challenging hurdles in developing new medicines,” said Kate Robbins, Pfizer spokeswoman. “We support the development of new tools that may enhance our ability to predict the safety of potential new medicines in early stages of research and development.”
The company plans to use proceeds from the Pfizer investment to accelerate its research and validation efforts and hire staffers, Alex Zapesochny, president and chief operating officer at iCardiac Technologies, told the Rochester Business Journal. Located on Allens Creek Road in Brighton, the firm employs 17 full-time and contract staffers. Zapesochny did not disclose the number of positions, except to say “several more jobs,” will be added this year.
The firm this year plans to execute on its research goals related to the alliance with Pfizer and pursue other applications for its biomarkers.
“We’re also going to see if we can get other companies besides Pfizer to also join with us as part of a broader cardiac safety alliance to further accelerate finding the solution to this problem,” Zapesochny said. “And what that means is essentially development and validating the next generation of tools that will determine with more definitiveness whether or not drugs are safe for the heart or not.”
The local firm is in the process of approaching the top 10 pharmaceutical companies to gauge their interest.
“We have very strong preliminary interest from five large pharmaceutical companies who want to get involved in this alliance because they all recognize the value of the next generation of tools and limitations of the current set of tools,” Latypova said in an interview.
The company hopes to structure a broader industry alliance within the next 12 months, she said.

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