In late 2024, Corsera Health came up with a big, hairy, audacious goal thesis: cardiovascular disease, the world’s leading killer, should be prevented long before patients ever become patients. At the 2026 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Inside Precision Medicine spoke with Corsera Health’s COO Rena Denoncourt and CFO Meredith Kaya, who discussed a tightly integrated strategy that combines consumer-facing AI, RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics, and a disruptive primary prevention go-to-market vision.
Denoncourt, who joined Corsera a year ago after 17 years at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals helping commercialize RNAi, called the move a return to “big, bold” science. Corsera’s lofty goal to eliminate cardiovascular disease matches that scale. With 21 million cardiovascular deaths annually, Denoncourt argued late intervention is no longer justified.
Corsera’s approach centers on KLOTHO, a deep causal AI tool that estimates lifetime risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Traditional risk calculators focus on near-term events, often reassuring younger adults in their 30s and 40s that they’re “low risk,” even as cumulative exposure to cholesterol and blood pressure quietly sets the stage for disease decades later. KLOTHO flips that logic by quantifying risk and the tangible benefit of acting early: how many years of cardiovascular-disease-free life a person could gain after intervening.
KLOTHO’s front end is intentionally simple, using large clinical trial datasets and Mendelian randomization data. Nothing complicated—just cholesterol, age, smoking status, and family history. Denoncourt and Kaya stressed “low-friction utility”: if it’s hard to use or understand, people won’t use it. The algorithm is in advanced prototype testing, with scientific validation and publications planned to build clinician, guideline committee, and consumer trust.
Their second pillar is a dual-targeting siRNA medicine that targets cholesterol and blood pressure in one annual injection. One siRNA is designed to aggressively lower LDL cholesterol while the other subtly modulates blood pressure by targeting angiotensinogen. In 2026, angiotensinogen (COR-203) will enter clinical trials, while PCSK9 (COR-104) is in Phase I. The goal is a well-tuned combination product that provides durable prevention without daily pills at a price point for mass accessibility, not specialty drug exclusivity.
Corsera does not see KLOTHO as a companion diagnostic or screen that would interfere with primary care workflows, which are optimized for acute issues rather than decades-long risk horizons. Instead, the company is exploring direct-to-consumer and hybrid channels (e.g., employers, telehealth, and wellness platforms) that mirror the playbook now reshaping obesity care.
Kaya, who joined in 2025 after stints at Alnylam and other biotech finance and strategy roles, underscored that timing, team, and execution are everything. Corsera recently closed a Series D, taking some pressure off JPM and shifting the week toward relationship-building with new investors. Kaya also highlighted the company’s leadership dynamic: co-CEOs John Maraganore, PhD, and Clive Meanwell, MD—industry veterans with decades of shared history—see Corsera as their “third act,” and possibly their biggest.
For Corsera, 2026 is about executing vision. The biology is confirmed, the tools are developing, and the bet is clear: scaled prevention could significantly impact cardiovascular medicine.
