With the potential to save millions of lives, University of Cambridge's spin-off company, XO1 Ltd., raised $11 million in funding to develop what some are calling the holy grail of anticoagulant drugs.
"This is the most exciting drug candidate I have seen in 20 years in the industry," Dr. David Grainger, venture partner at investor Index Ventures and interim chief executive of XO1 Ltd., said in a press release.
The funding will be used to develop ichoracumab, an antibody invented by researchers from the University of Addenbrooke's that targets thrombin, the enzyme responsible for blood clotting, according to researchers.
Ichorumab is a synthetic antibody based on one first identified in a patient at Addenbrooke in 2008.
"This patient arrived in A&E with a head injury, and we rapidly discovered a degree of anticoagulation consistent with severe hemophilia," said Dr. Trevor Baglin, consultant hematologist at Addenbrooke's, part of Cambridge University Hospitals, who treated the patient in question. "We thought it might be fatal. But to our surprise the bleeding stopped quite normally."
Based on this observation, Baglin and his colleague, Jim Huntington of the University of Cambridge Institute of Medical Research, worked to replicate the rare and surprising antibody.
Whereas current synthetic anticoagulants are widely used to prevent thrombosis - a major cause of heart attack and strokes - they are limited due to the fact that they often cause bleeding.
"Undoubtedly higher doses of these anticoagulant drugs could prevent the majority of heart attacks and strokes," Baglin explained. "But we can't give higher doses because the bleeding they would cause would itself be fatal."
Ichorcumab, however, has the potential to change all that, according to the researchers.
"This antibody can deliver a high degree of anticoagulation without increased bleeding; we've never seen that before," Huntington said.
The investment, which represents the largest by Index Ventures to date, will also be used to manufacture substantial quantities of the antibody. Currently, the scientists expect to begin human trials within two years.
"We are delighted to license this exciting asset to XO1, backed by the experienced Index team," said Andy Walsh of Cambridge Enterprise, the university's commercialization arm.