29 June, 2022
aptaTargets is taking part in the Desafia Singapore Programme 2022 this week organised by the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX), the Spanish Investment and Commercial Office in Singapore and MedTech Actuator.
The programme will feature another seven companies which will learn more about the healthcare ecosystem in Singapore and the Asia Pacific region in order to forge future partnerships.
Desafia Singapore is a training, immersion and mentoring programme that selects innovative start-ups from Spain in the healthcare sector (biotechnology, digital health and medical devices and technology) in order to help them land smoothly in this strategic region. Public healthcare expenditure in ASEAN-6 nations is projected to grow to $740 billion USD by 2025.
In addition to aptaTargets, this year’s programme has also selected Ahead Therapeutics, Regemat 3D, Kauka, LUZ Global, Nadetech Innovations, Tetraneuron and Xkelet.
The time spent in Singapore features visits to renowned companies and entities such as Boston Scientific, Centre for Medical Technologies and Innovations (CMTi), Changi General Hospital, Google, Institute for Health Innovation & Technology (iHealthtech)-National University Health System (NUHS), Life Science Incubator, Singapore Health Technologies Consortium, among others, along with one-to-one meetings and a demo day with the leading investment firms in the region.
“We are excited to visit one of the most innovative healthcare ecosystems in the world which is open to strengthening itself with international collaborations, and also to present our innovative drug ApTOLL based on aptamer technology,” explained David Segarra, co-founder and CEO of aptaTargets.
ApTOLL is a novel single-stranded DNA molecule with immunomodulator and anti-inflammatory effect. Its activity focuses on blocking the activation of TLR4, a receptor located on the surface of immune cells responsible for initiating the inflammatory cascade. ApTOLL has shown an excellent safety profile in clinical trials for the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke (Phase 1a and Phase 1b/2a) and COVID-19 (Phase 1b) and efficacy in preclinical studies for haemorrhagic stroke, myocardial infarction and multiple sclerosis.
“We would like to thank ICEX and MedTech Actuator for having provided us with this opportunity. This is a highly recommendable programme for biopharmaceutical companies in the clinical phase like aptaTargets to enter the Asian and Pacific Market,” commented María Eugenia Zarabozo, co-founder and CFO of aptaTargets.