Atrium Therapeutics Inc (Nasdaq:RNA) announced on Friday that it has launched as a newly independent, publicly traded company focused on delivering RNA therapeutics directly to the heart to transform care for people living with rare, life-threatening genetic cardiomyopathies.

Atrium Therapeutics was established in connection with Avidity Biosciences Inc's acquisition by Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS).

The company is led by Kathleen Gallagher, president and CEO. It begins operations with two precision cardiology candidates, two undisclosed research targets and approximately USD270m in cash and cash equivalents.

Atrium Therapeutics' two lead development candidates are: ATR 1072 for PRKAG2 (Protein Kinase AMP-activated non-catalytic subunit Gamma 2) syndrome and ATR 1086 for PLN (phospholamban) cardiomyopathy. Both conditions are severe, life-threatening, rare autosomal dominant progressive cardiomyopathies with no approved therapies to treat the underlying cause of disease.

Pending supportive Phase 1 trial results, Atrium Therapeutics anticipates advancing both programmes into clinical trials, while continuing to expand its additional precision cardiology pipeline and develop its next-generation RNA delivery platform.