Key Investor Signals
Selected for BII Venture Lab with up to €500k
selected Ibnova for its Venture Lab, providing up to €500,000 through a convertible loan, laboratory space and venture support.
Restored heart function in animal models
Institutional launch materials report that Ibnova's lab-grown heart tissue restored heart function in animal models, providing early evidence that the patch can improve cardiac performance.
Co-founder's earlier heart patch work reached a Phase 1/2 trial
James Hudson's earlier research contributed to a Repairon in heart failure patients launched in 2021. This gives the founding team direct experience translating into the clinic.
Other Positive Signals
- Ibnova is working with the to develop a scalable clinical manufacturing process for its heart tissue.
- The technology emerged from a collaboration between and that began in 2013 and received sustained public research funding.
- The founders' laboratories published vascularized cardiac tissue research in STAR Protocols in 2023 and Nature Cardiovascular Research in 2025.
- Ibnova is the first company spun out of , the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine.
- CTO Ian Fernandes previously worked on scaling stem cell-derived cardiac cells for manufacturing in Gordon Keller's laboratory.
Team
Andrew Laskary
CEO, CSO and Co-Founder
- First author of a 2025 review on designing multicellular cardiac tissue engineering technologies for clinical translation, written with Hudson and Porrello.
- Completed a master's degree in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine at the University of Toronto, where he worked on transplanting stem cell-derived heart muscle.
- Clinician Scientist Trainee at QIMR Berghofer since 2023, completing his PhD under James Hudson and Enzo Porrello.
- Previously worked as a Surgical Engineering Technician at Queensland University of Technology's Medical Engineering Research Facility.
Enzo Porrello
Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor
- Co-founded Dynomics in 2020 with James Hudson to discover heart failure drugs using .
- First author of a landmark 2011 Science paper showing that newborn mammalian hearts can regenerate lost muscle.
- Director of Stem Cell Medicine at Murdoch Children's Research Institute and Melbourne Node Director of reNEW since 2022.
- Elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and the International Society for Heart Research.
James Hudson
Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor
- Co-founded Dynomics in 2020 with Enzo Porrello to discover heart failure drugs using cardiac organoids.
- His earlier engineered cardiac tissue research contributed to a Repairon Phase 1/2 trial in heart failure patients launched in 2021.
- Received an inaugural Snow Medical Fellowship in 2021, providing eight years of research funding.
- Awarded the 2019 Metcalf Prize for developing methods to mass-produce human heart tissue from stem cells.
Product
Ibnova is developing a vascularized patch of living human heart muscle for patients whose hearts have been damaged by a heart attack. The patch combines stem cell-derived with vascular cells and is placed over the damaged area, where it is intended to contract alongside the remaining heart muscle.
The therapy is designed as an , off-the-shelf product. Ibnova's foundational research has restored heart function in animal models, and the company is working with the Novo Nordisk Foundation Cellerator to prepare its manufacturing process for clinical development.
Replaces muscle lost after a heart attack
A heart attack leaves a localized area of dead muscle that the adult heart cannot regenerate. Ibnova's patch is placed directly over that area to add new contracting tissue.
Blood vessels are grown into the patch
Vascular cells are grown alongside the heart muscle cells, helping the tissue develop an internal vessel network before implantation. This is intended to help thicker patches survive after they are placed on the heart.
One manufacturing run can supply multiple patients
The patch is produced in advance from a standard stem cell line rather than from each patient's own cells. This allows Ibnova to manufacture in batches and have the product ready when surgery is scheduled.
Market Overview
Heart failure affected an estimated 56.1 million people worldwide in 2023. accounted for 33.4% of cases, making damage caused by blocked arteries the largest underlying cause. Current treatments mainly reduce the heart's workload, manage rhythm or support circulation; they do not replace the muscle that has been lost.
Ibnova's intended route fits existing cardiac surgery infrastructure. The patch would be implanted in centers that already perform advanced heart procedures and use pumps, defibrillators and pacing devices. Japan's conditional authorization of Cuorips' ReHeart in 2026 also provides a regulatory precedent for a stem cell-derived cardiac patch placed surgically on the heart.
Estimated global prevalence in 2023.
Share of global heart failure prevalence attributed to ischemic heart disease in 2023, making it the largest single cause.
Estimated global spending on ventricular assist devices, defibrillators and pacing implants used in heart failure care.
Japan conditionally authorized ReHeart for severe ischemic heart failure, providing a regulatory precedent for surgically implanted cardiac patches.
Comparable Outcomes
Semma Therapeutics
Semma developed insulin-producing cells from human stem cells to replace those destroyed in type 1 diabetes. The company had not entered human trials when it was acquired, providing a relevant precedent for a stem cell-derived replacement therapy. Vertex Pharmaceuticals agreed to acquire Semma in September 2019 for $950M in cash.
BlueRock Therapeutics
BlueRock developed off-the-shelf cell therapies from across neurology, cardiology and immunology. Its pipeline included programs intended to replace heart muscle lost through damage, making it a close precedent for allogeneic manufacturing model and cardiac cell-replacement strategy. Bayer agreed in August 2019 to acquire BlueRock Therapeutics at a total company value of up to $1B.
Cardior Pharmaceuticals
Cardior developed CDR132L, an RNA therapy intended to reduce the thickening and scarring that follow heart damage. The program was in testing when the transaction was announced. Novo Nordisk agreed to acquire Cardior in March 2024 for up to €1.025B.
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Sources
This profile was built from public company materials, ecosystem sources, market references, and professional profiles.