AptaTargets awarded €2.5 million grant from Spanish government to evaluate ApTOLL for acute myocardial infarction

The consortium made up of aptaTargets,Ramón y Cajal Institute for Health Research (IRYCIS), Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Health Research Institute of the Hospital Clínico San Carlos (IdISSC) and Institute of Health and Biomedical Research of Alicante (ISABIAL) has received a grant of €2.5 million from the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) for a Phase 2a clinical trial to evaluate the cardioprotective effect of ApTOLL on acute myocardial infarction 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 ApSTEMI clinical trial, conducted by the scientific teams led by Dr José Luis Zamorano from IRYCIS, Dr Joan Antoni Gómez-Hospital from IDIBELL, Dr Antonio Fernández Ortiz from IdISSC and Dr Juan Miguel Ruiz Nodar from ISABIAL. ApSTEMI expects to recruit 120 patients at four hospitals in Spain.

"We will focus on acute myocardial infarction with ST-segment elevation (STEMI), the most dangerous and challenging version of AMI with highest mortality rate", says Dr Zamorano, coordinating principal investigator of the ApSTEMI study.

Dr Macarena Hernández, Chief Scientific Officer at aptaTargets, explains that "ApTOLL is a first-in-class citoprotectant developed by aptaTargets that has shown promising preclinical results in acute myocardial infarction". Recently, ApTOLL has 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.