HemoShear Therapeutics

About HemoShear Therapeutics

HemoShear Therapeutics, founded in 2008 by Brett R. Blackman and Brian R. Wamhoff, is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for rare metabolic disorders. The company's origins are tied to technology developed with SBIR support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute while the founders were researchers at the University of Virginia. Dr. Wamhoff, who co-developed the company's core technology, has a Ph.D. in Medical Physiology and previously served on the faculty at the University of Virginia. Dr. Blackman also co-invented the technology and was a tenured associate professor at the University of Virginia. Initially, the firm concentrated on creating models of the human cardiovascular system to aid in drug discovery and to identify potential harmful cardiac side effects of new drug candidates.

The company operates in the biotechnology and drug discovery sectors, developing novel biological targets and drugs. Its business model involves both developing a proprietary pipeline of drugs and partnering with pharmaceutical and biotech companies to accelerate their drug discovery programs. Revenue is generated through upfront payments, milestone payments, and potential royalties from these collaborations. HemoShear has established significant partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies, including Takeda Pharmaceutical for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and a rare liver disease, and Horizon Therapeutics for gout. These collaborations leverage HemoShear's platform to discover and validate new drug targets.

At the core of HemoShear's operations is its proprietary REVEAL-Tx™ platform. This technology uses a combination of biological and computational models to replicate human diseases in a laboratory setting. By applying principles of physiological blood flow to patient-derived tissues, the platform creates biologically relevant disease models to uncover underlying disease mechanisms and identify potential drug targets. A key product in its proprietary pipeline is HST5040, an oral small-molecule drug developed for the treatment of methylmalonic acidemia (MMA) and propionic acidemia (PA). These are rare genetic disorders caused by enzyme deficiencies that lead to the buildup of toxic metabolites. HST5040 is designed for convenient daily home administration as a liquid formulation and has received Orphan Drug, Fast Track, and Rare Pediatric Disease designations from the FDA. The company has advanced HST5040 into a Phase 2 clinical trial known as the HERO study.