Thryv Therapeutics is pioneering a precision medicine approach to treat Congenital Long QT Syndrome (LQTS), heart failure, and other cardiometabolic arrhythmias using potent and selective inhibitors of Serum Glucocorticoid inducible Kinase (SGK1). Based in Montreal — home to one of the world’s leading cardiology institutes and a rich pool of scientific talent — the company’s mission is to not only save lives, but also improve the quality of life for millions of patients whose daily activities are severely limited by these diseases.
The company’s origins trace back to 2015, when novel intellectual property around SGK1 inhibition emerged from the University of Massachusetts and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Early attempts to build a company around the discovery faltered, but the idea of providing patients — many of them diagnosed after life-threatening cardiac events in adolescence — with new hope remained compelling. Thryv’s founding team, including Paul Truex, who would eventually become the company’s CEO and Chairman, recognized the opportunity to revive the program by licensing the IP from a global pharmaceutical company. That strategic reset paved the way for Thryv’s official launch four years later and for raising its Series A round soon after.
Choosing the right partner
That first round of financing was led by Amplitude Ventures alongside a group of local and international investors. Truex had met Amplitude years earlier through his network and says he was not only impressed by their track record in precision medicine, but also by the way they approached company building. “What struck me about Amplitude from the beginning was their ability to combine deep scientific understanding with a very pragmatic sense of how to build and scale a business,” he recalls. “That first round wasn’t just about the capital, it was also about finding a partner who could challenge us and help us think three steps ahead.”
From the outset, Amplitude pushed the Thryv team to broaden its ambitions. Initially, the company was solely focused on Long QT syndrome and creating a first-in-class therapeutic for a rare orphan indication. Long QT syndrome is a rare but devastating genetic disorder affecting roughly 60,000 patients in the US alone. Existing treatments rely on lifestyle restrictions and implanted defibrillators, leaving patients vulnerable to sudden cardiac arrest and with a significantly diminished quality of life. Thryv aims to be the first to deliver a disease-modifying therapy for Long QT, an innovation that could immediately become standard of care
With Amplitude’s encouragement, Thryv has since also expanded its focus to include cardiometabolic disease, which encompasses obesity-induced heart failure and atrial fibrillation, among other conditions, that affect millions worldwide. It’s a vast market, with existing drugs like Jardiance generating more than $4 billion annually. Preclinical data suggest that Thryv’s SGK1 inhibitor could deliver even greater benefits, especially when combined with current therapies.
“Amplitude helped us to expand into larger markets and position the business at the center of two multi-billion-dollar opportunities,” notes Truex. “If Long QT is about saving lives in rare diseases, our cardiometabolic programs are about upgrading lives at scale.”
A true partnership
Amplitude’s involvement with Thryv has also extended to complex valuation and portfolio modeling. With a single molecule targeting both orphan and mass-market indications, pricing dynamics and risk assessments are intricate. Amplitude worked closely with Thryv to map out these scenarios, from modeling payer behavior to evaluating partnership structures. “Amplitude brings more than money to the table,” says Truex. “They’re collaborative, thoughtful, and hands-on when it matters most. They challenge us in the right ways and have helped us build a stronger company.”
For Amplitude, backing Thryv was as much about the team as the science. “Paul and his team have accomplished a tremendous amount in just a few years,” says Jean-François Pariseau, Co-Founder and Partner at Amplitude. “They’ve taken a strong biological mechanism that could build a pipeline of products and in-licensed IP to accelerate the development of the lead program, turning it into a robust pipeline with both rare disease and large-market potential. We couldn’t ask for a better portfolio company to work with.”
Looking ahead, Thryv is entering a pivotal period. Over the next two years, the company will execute two major clinical studies, including a Phase 3 outcome trial for Long QT. Success would unlock significant capital to complete registration and scale development of both its Long QT and cardiometabolic programs.
From its inception through to today, Thryv exemplifies the type of company that Amplitude was built to support: one with a clear mission, scientific rigor, and the potential to deliver a transformative impact on human health. Together, they are reshaping how precision medicine can address both rare and widespread cardiovascular diseases — saving and improving countless lives along the way.
