Kardigan

Kardigan is a cardiovascular-focused biopharmaceutical company based in South San Francisco, California and Princeton, New Jersey, founded in 2023 by former MyoKardia executives. It describes itself as a "heart health company" seeking to modernize cardiovascular drug development by targeting the underlying drivers of disease rather than symptoms, with the stated goal of achieving functional cures. The company combines a discovery and translational research platform with a portfolio assembled through in-licensing and acquisitions of clinical-stage assets.

Its clinical pipeline consists of three programs in indications where the company states no approved therapies exist: danicamtiv, a direct cardiac myosin activator for genetic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in the Phase 2b/3 KINSHIP-DCM trial, in-licensed on exclusive worldwide development and commercialization terms from Bristol Myers Squibb after original discovery at MyoKardia; ataciguat, a once-daily oral soluble guanylyl cyclase activator for moderate calcific aortic valve stenosis (CAVS) in the Phase 2b KATALYST-AV trial, with rights acquired and in-licensed from Sanofi and Mayo Clinic; and tonlamarsen, an angiotensinogen antisense oligonucleotide for acute severe hypertension (ASH) in the Phase 2b KARDINAL-ASH trial, in-licensed on exclusive worldwide terms from Ionis. The company frames the three programs as complementary, generating cross-program insights into core cardiovascular pathways to support R&D beyond the initial indications.

Kardigan is led by co-founder, CEO and chair Tassos Gianakakos, previously CEO of MyoKardia (acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb for $13.1 billion in 2020), with Jay Edelberg, M.D., Ph.D. as co-founder and chief medical officer and Bob McDowell cited as a third co-founder. Its board includes Paul Berns (ARCH Venture Partners), David Meeker, M.D. (Rhythm Pharmaceuticals), Doug Giordano (Perceptive Advisors), Kim Popovits and Tim Walbert.