NanoPhoria Raises €83.5 Million Series A to Advance Heart Failure Therapy and Expand Nano‑Delivery Platform
NanoPhoria, the Milan‑based biotechnology company pioneering nano‑delivery therapies for cardiovascular disease, has raised €83.5 million in a landmark Series A financing round — one of the largest early‑stage biotech financings in Italy to date — to advance its lead candidate, NP‑MP1, into clinical development and to expand its proprietary nano‑in‑micro delivery platform into additional therapeutic areas.
The Series A was co‑led by XGEN Venture, Sofinnova Partners, and CDP Venture Capital, with participation from Panakès Partners and one other undisclosed investor. This investor syndicate brings together experienced life sciences and growth‑stage backers with deep expertise in supporting transformative biotech platforms from early innovation through clinical execution.
NanoPhoria’s financing will be used to propel NP‑MP1 through IND‑enabling studies and early clinical development, a crucial step for the company’s first‑in‑class peptide designed to treat heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) — a chronic condition affecting millions globally and associated with high mortality rates. The fundraising will also support scaled GMP manufacturing, regulatory strategy, and expansion of the company’s proprietary delivery technology to additional indications beyond HFrEF.
NP‑MP1 is delivered via NanoPhoria’s lung‑to‑heart nano‑in‑micro platform, which uses inorganic calcium‑phosphate nanoparticles as versatile, biomimetic carriers that can be loaded with peptides or other biologic payloads and administered via inhalation. In preclinical models, this delivery strategy has demonstrated encouraging efficacy in improving cardiac contractility — a central dysfunction in HFrEF — by targeting cardiac L‑type calcium channels, potentially addressing a core unmet need in cardiovascular medicine.
Founded in 2022 as a spin‑off from Italy’s National Research Council (CNR), NanoPhoria is led by Chief Executive Officer and co‑founder Claudio De Luca, alongside other scientific founders including Daniele Catalucci, Michele Iafisco, and Alessio Alogna. The company’s mission is to develop tissue‑directed therapeutics with precise delivery mechanisms that overcome limitations of conventional systemic treatments, particularly where cellular targets are difficult to reach.
The scale of the Series A round reflects significant investor confidence in NanoPhoria’s science and commercial prospects. Paolo Fundarò, Managing Partner at XGEN Venture, described the financing as aligning with the firm’s strategy to back high‑impact Italian startups addressing critical medical needs, noting that the science offers a “novel and viable” method to deliver potent biologics directly to the heart. Henrijette Richter, Managing Partner at Sofinnova Partners, emphasised the broader potential of the platform to redefine treatment paradigms across cardiovascular and chronic diseases, while acknowledging the early contributions of team members such as Lucia Faccio and the Sofinnova Telethon Strategy.
The capital influx follows earlier recognition of NanoPhoria’s technology and growth potential, including a €17.5 million award from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator program — a combination of grant funding and conditional equity investment — intended to support progression toward first‑in‑human studies for the company’s lead heart failure program. That funding underscored the disruptive nature of NanoPhoria’s platform and its potential to translate preclinical success into clinical impact.
NanoPhoria’s delivery strategy — often termed lung‑to‑heart delivery — aims to target cardiomyocytes more directly and efficiently than traditional systemic approaches by harnessing inhalation routes and nanotechnology. This could substantially improve both therapeutic efficacy and safety profiles, particularly for chronic conditions like HFrEF where existing therapies often fall short of modifying disease progression.
The Series A funds will not only advance NP‑MP1 toward clinical relevance but also enhance NanoPhoria’s capabilities to scale GMP manufacturing, build regulatory pathways, and explore additional indications where precise tissue targeting can yield therapeutic benefits. The company is poised to expand its operations and research capabilities in Milan while establishing partnerships that accelerate its transition from preclinical innovation to patient‑focused clinical development.
Investors in this round bring a range of strategic insights and networks: XGEN Venture focuses on early‑stage life sciences ventures with high medical impact; Sofinnova Partners is one of Europe’s leading life sciences investors with a history of backing platform innovators; CDP Venture Capital manages significant assets across growth funds; and Panakès Partners specialises in disruptive life science technologies in Italy and beyond. Their collective support positions NanoPhoria to execute aggressively on both scientific and clinical fronts.
As NanoPhoria moves forward, its substantial Series A financing highlights the growing appetite among global investors for innovative platforms that could transform delivery of biologic therapies, especially in areas like cardiovascular health where innovation has lagged relative to other therapeutic areas. This backing may accelerate the company’s journey toward first‑in‑human trials, broaden its portfolio, and ultimately improve treatment options for patients with high unmet need.
