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AstraZeneca has announced that it is set to acquire the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company CinCor in a deal worth up to $1.8bn.

US-based CinCor focuses on the development of novel treatments for resistant and uncontrolled hypertension, as well as to treat chronic kidney disease.

The deal is intended to improve AstraZeneca’s cardiorenal pipeline through the acquisition of CinCor’s candidate drug, baxdrostat (CIN-107), an aldosterone synthase inhibitor (ASI) that lowers blood pressure in treatment-resistant hypertension.

The company hopes that baxdrostat will be its leading next-generation ASI due to the fact that it is highly selective for aldosterone synthase and tends to spare the cortisol pathway in human patients. It can also be used in combination with Farxiga, which “complements

AstraZeneca’s strategy to provide added benefit across cardiorenal diseases, where there is a high unmet medical need.”

Mene Pangalos, executive vice president of biopharmaceutical research and development at AstraZeneca, commented: “Acquiring CinCor supports our commitment to cardiorenal disease and further strengthens our pipeline with baxdrostat.”

He continued: “Excess levels of aldosterone are associated with hypertension and several cardiorenal diseases, including chronic kidney disease and coronary artery disease, and being able to effectively reduce this would offer a much-needed treatment option for these patients.”