19 December, 2022
The consortium made up of aptaTargets, Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) and Girona Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBGI) has received a grant of €3.5 million from the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) for a clinical trial to evaluate the administration of ApTOLL in ambulances and its neuroprotective effect on stroke patients.
The funds are from a competitive call through the 2021 State Programme to Promote Scientific-Technical Research and its Transfer (formerly known as Retos Colaboración).
aptaTargets will lead the RACETOLL clinical trial, conducted by the scientific teams led by Dr Marc Ribó from VHIR, Dr Pere Cardona from IDIBELL, Dr Natalia Pérez de la Ossa from IGTP, Dr Mikel Terceño from IDIBGI and Dr Xavier Jiménez from the Emergency Medical System (SEM). The first phase of the study (2a) expects to recruit 180 patients at four hospitals.
“Following the promising results of the APRIL trial, and taking advantage of our previous collaborative experience in the RACECAT study, we have assembled four Comprehensive Stroke Centers and the involvement of the Emergency Medical System (SEM)”, says Dr Marc Ribó, aptaTargets Chief Medical Officer and coordinating principal investigator of the RACETOLL study.
“When a person suffers a stroke, every minute counts, the longer the time to achieve recanalisation the lower the chances of recovery. The goal of this new study is to advance the neuroprotective treatment to patients, even before arriving in the hospital in order to buy time before recanalization is achieved” says Dr Macarena Hernández, Chief Scientific Officer at aptaTargets.
aptaTargets is a clinical-stage aptamer therapeutic company that has developed ApTOLL, a first-in-class neuroprotectant to reduce brain damage and improve functional outcomes in stroke patients. ApTOLL has recently completed a Phase 2a clinical trial in acute ischemic stroke with positive results, confirming its excellent safety profile and outstanding efficacy data, significantly reducing final infarct volume and improving functional outcomes in patients. Due to its mechanism of action, ApTOLL has also shown promising preclinical results in other indications, including haemorrhagic stroke and acute myocardial infarction.
Clinical trial to evaluate the administration of ApTOLL in ambulances and the neuroprotective effect in stroke patients. RACETOLL CPP2021-008378.