Graviton BioScience and CinRx Pharma announced on November 2 that they have formed CinRock Pharma, a jointly governed company to develop ROCK2 targeted therapies for cardiovascular disease. CinRock will initially advance two Graviton originated compounds, selected for pharmacologic profiles and distribution to cardiac tissue, in pulmonary arterial hypertension, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and other cardiomyopathies.
ROCK2, Rho associated coiled coil containing protein kinase 2, is targeted for its anti fibrotic, anti inflammatory and anti hypertrophy effects, which the companies argue are central to how these diseases progress. The mechanism is clinically validated in another setting: a ROCK2 inhibitor, Rezurock, is approved in chronic graft versus host disease, but it has no approved cardiovascular indication.
Jonathan Isaacsohn, founder and chief executive of CinRx, will serve as chief executive of CinRock and lead research and development in collaboration with Samuel Waksal, founder and chief executive of Graviton. CinRx operates a hub and spoke model, supplying capital and centralised development infrastructure to asset focused subsidiaries.
No financial terms, ownership percentages or trial timelines were disclosed, and both candidates are early stage. The announcement is a structure story rather than a data story: its significance will depend on whether CinRock can move the compounds into cardiovascular trials, in indications where endpoints are long and expensive to prove.