IQVIA (NYSE: IQV) and Medera Inc. announced a collaboration to advance cardiac gene therapies and human-based drug discovery platforms, according to a press release dated Aug. 4, 2026.

The agreement combines IQVIA's clinical trial infrastructure with Medera's two business units: Sardocor, which develops gene therapies for cardiovascular diseases, and Novoheart, which produces engineered human cardiac tissue for disease modeling and drug screening.

Under the arrangement, IQVIA will provide regulatory and trial execution support for Sardocor's FDA-cleared, first-in-human AAV-based gene therapy programs, including assistance with patient recruitment, data quality, and regulatory filings for expedited FDA designations.

Novoheart's mini-Heart platform, which the company states has already supported FDA Investigational New Drug and Fast Track designations, is being expanded into additional organ systems to support drug discovery and safety testing under the FDA Modernization Act 2.0.

Ronald Li, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Medera, said: "By combining IQVIA's global expertise with Medera's mini-Heart platform and gene therapy programs, we can bring safer, more effective therapies to patients faster."

Medera's Sardocor unit is currently running cardiac gene therapy trials targeting heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy cardiomyopathy. IQVIA employs approximately 94,000 people across more than 100 countries.