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Hong Kong PE firm backs heart failure treatment

  • Alvina Yuen
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Hong Kong-based Themes Investment Partners has led a $20 million equity financing round in LoneStar Heart, a California-based biomedical company developing new therapies for patients with heart failure.

The latest investment brings the company's total equity funding to $35 million since its inception in June 2010. Frank Yu, co-founder and CEO of Themes, joined the board of directors.

The capital will support the clinical testing and regulatory clearance of LoneStar's flagship product Algisyl-LVR, which provides internal tissue support aimed at preventing the progression of heart failure and restoring the heart's normal structure and function.

Frank Ahmann, president and COO at LoneStar Heart, said in a statement that the company will seek regulatory approval for Algisyl-LVR in Europe before accelerating the product's development in China.

"LoneStar Heart, founded and guided by some of the world's leading cardiac physicians and scientists, is at an inflection point," added Themes' Yu. "We are encouraged by the compelling clinical results to date and its progress in China, which is by far the largest heart failure market in the world."

Themes Investment Partners was founded by Yu in 2010. Formerly a banker with Goldman Sachs, Yu joined Och-Ziff in 2007 to lead the hedge fund's China investments. In June 2011, Themes closed its Themes Investment Partners II at $250 million, focusing on investment opportunities in China.

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