Medera Expands Singapore Presence Through Partnership with National Heart Centre Singapore
Medera establishes Singapore laboratory and office to support human mini-heart cardiac disease modeling, drug discovery, and regional cardiovascular clinical innovation
BOSTON and SINGAPORE, Sept. 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medera Inc. ("Medera"), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing disease-modifying gene therapies for cardiovascular disease, today announced an expanded partnership with the National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS), supported under Singapore’s Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025, or RIE2025, framework, to advance human mini-heart-based cardiac disease modeling, translational research, and next-generation non-animal drug discovery in Singapore. Medera also announced it is establishing a Singapore laboratory and office to support this work.
The partnership will bring together NHCS’s cardiovascular clinical and research expertise with Medera’s Novoheart subsidiary, which pioneers human-based cardiac tissue engineering for disease modeling and drug discovery, to develop and validate human-relevant cardiac disease models for drug discovery, cardiotoxicity assessment, therapeutic efficacy testing, and translational cardiovascular research.
Medera Singapore is expected to serve as an important Asia-Pacific hub for the company’s cardiac technology platform, translational research partnerships, and regional business development. The Singapore initiative complements Medera’s recently announced collaboration with IQVIA to support broader global deployment of Novoheart’s human cardiac technology platforms and underscores Medera’s growing international footprint across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
“Singapore is one of Asia’s most advanced biomedical innovation hubs, with world-class clinical institutions, strong translational research capabilities, and a clear national commitment to industry-relevant science,” said Ronald Li, PhD, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Medera. “This partnership with NHCS represents an important step in building a long-term Singapore presence for Medera and Novoheart, while advancing human-based cardiac platforms that can improve how cardiovascular therapies are discovered, tested, and developed.”
In parallel with the Singapore platform partnership, Medera is advancing its cardiac gene therapy programs through its therapeutic subsidiary, Sardocor. The company’s randomized clinical trial for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is currently underway and is believed to mark the first cardiac gene therapy clinical trial in Singapore. Medera also plans to expand its heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) program into its regional clinical development strategy.
“Our therapeutic and technology platforms are highly complementary,” Dr. Li added. “We are advancing cardiac gene therapies for the two major forms of heart failure, HFrEF and HFpEF, while Novoheart’s human mini-heart platform provides a powerful translational system to model human cardiac disease and support drug development in ways that traditional animal models cannot. With Singapore as an Asia-Pacific hub and IQVIA supporting global access to our human cardiac technology platform, we are building a differentiated cardiovascular innovation network with both clinical and commercial reach.”
About Medera Inc.
Medera is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation gene therapies for cardiovascular and other serious diseases. Its pipeline includes multiple AAV-based gene therapy programs targeting heart failure and related cardiovascular disorders.
The Company operates through two complementary business units: Novoheart, which provides advanced human-specific cardiac disease modeling and drug discovery platforms, and Sardocor, which leads clinical development of Medera's gene therapy pipeline. Together, these capabilities create an integrated translational platform spanning discovery, preclinical validation, manufacturing, and clinical development.
For more information, please visit www.medera.bio.
About Novoheart
Novoheart develops proprietary human cardiac tissue engineering platforms, including engineered “mini-heart” systems designed to model human cardiac function and disease in vitro. Novoheart’s technologies are intended to support drug discovery, cardiotoxicity assessment, disease modeling, and translational research using human-based, non-animal systems. Through Medera’s strategic collaborations, including its recently announced partnership with IQVIA, Novoheart’s platform is being positioned for broader international access and deployment.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding Medera's investigational products, anticipated regulatory interactions, clinical development plans, future clinical data, and potential therapeutic benefits. These statements are based on current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied.
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