AnaCardio raised €62.5 million (about $70.5 million) in a Series B to advance its oral therapy AC01 in Phase IIb development for chronic advanced heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), fully funding the next trial stage. AC01 is an oral calcium-sensitizing contractile agent and a ghrelin mimetic small molecule originally in-licensed from Helsinn in 2022. The company said its Phase Ib/IIa results—published in The Lancet—support moving into a larger patient population to build evidence for Phase III readiness by 2028. AnaCardio reported receiving positive scientific advice from both the FDA and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), a factor that can reduce regulatory uncertainty before Phase IIb data and influence design parameters for later development. The round was co-led by Novo Holdings and the Ljungström family office, with participation from Helsinn and other investors including Pureos Bioventures and Innovestor Life Science, signaling continued appetite for mechanism-differentiated heart failure approaches in oral small-molecule formats.