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NanoCor Therapeutics, Inc. ("NanoCor") is a biotechnology company founded to create the first viable intracellular genetic protein therapy for the treatment of Chronic Heart Failure ("CHF"). The company was spun off from Asklêpios BioPharmaceutical, Inc. (AskBio) in November 2005. CHF, also called congestive heart failure or cardiac failure, is a condition in which the heart is unable to supply sufficient amounts of blood and oxygen to the body. Congestive heart failure can be caused by conditions that weaken the heart muscle, cause stiffening of the heart muscles, or increase oxygen demand by the body tissue beyond the capability of the heart to deliver. The American Heart Association estimates that approximately five million patients in the United States and over fifteen million patients worldwide suffer from CHF with over 500,000 new cases diagnosed each year. NanoCor's initial focus is the commercial development of a non-invasive treatment for CHF. NanoCor's therapeutic is comprised of the delivery of a proprietary gene developed at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Cincinnati. The gene will be delivered with AskBio's proprietary Biological NanoParticle (BNP®) and the Self-Complementary vector technologies, which are derived from human adeno-associated virus vectors (rAAV). The company's lead therapeutic is Carfostin®. NanoCor's proprietary BNP® delivery technology will allow selective and highly efficient delivery of Carfostin® to the heart muscle cells of patients with progressive CHF and result in long-term and safe therapeutic protein expression in the heart, an absolute prerequisite for successful clinical application of a DNA-based therapeutic. Carfostin® will not only improve the contractile function of the failing heart muscle, but will also achieve additional therapeutic effects by remodeling its structure to counteract the crippling effects of CHF on the heart. NanoCor's BNP® technology is unique in that it allows targeted, non-invasive delivery of the therapeutic to the heart. Non-invasive delivery provides many advantages over other competing technologies currently under development. Once in the heart, Carfostin® will use the heart muscle as a bioreactor to provide sustained protein expression.