The consortium formed by aptaTargets, the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), the University of Valladolid and the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) has received €4 million in funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the State Research Agency (AEI).

The grant will support the NexTOLL project, which aims to launch a multicentre Phase 2b clinical trial to confirm the neuroprotective effect of ApTOLL in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). The clinical trial is scheduled to start in 2024 and Pere Cardona, Principal Investigator at the Neurologic Diseases and Neurogenetics research group at IDIBELL and Director of Neurovascular Program and Stroke Unit at the Bellvitge University Hospital, will be among the neurologists conducting it.

These funds come from a highly competitive call for proposals from the State Programme for the Promotion of Scientific and Technical Research and its Transfer 2022 (formerly known as Retos Colaboración) which provides funding for public-private collaboration projects to catalyse innovation and business leadership in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Notably, the results of the research conducted with ApTOLL to date are very encouraging. ApTOLL is the first neuroprotective drug to obtain positive results in clinical trials with patients, which were presented at the International Stroke Conference 2023 and published in the prestigious scientific journal JAMA Neurology.

The funding received from the AEI is key to bringing ApTOLL to the market, which could provide an important therapeutic option for stroke patients who have a significant unmet medical need.

A Phase IIb Clinical trial to the evaluate neuroprotective effect of ApTOLL in stroke patients. NexTOLL CPP2022-009778.