Örebro Consortium

In December 2019, Aptahem entered a consortium together with Cardiovascular Research Centre (CVRC) at Örebro University, the pharmaceutical development company AnaMar and Dalhousie University in Canada, with funding from the Swedish KK Foundation. The aim of the consortium was to evaluate new strategies to reduce inflammation, thrombosis and fibrosis in cardiovascular disease.

The collaboration with Örebro University, within the frame of the consortium, lead to disruptive discoveries helping to understand a pharmacological mechanism of action of Apta-1. The most important insight was that Apta-1 in a unique way blocks the activation of thrombin, which is the protein first activated by the liver when an inflammation occurs. The treatment with Apta-1 performed in vivo and in vitro lead to an anti-thrombotic effect without being associated with increased risk of bleeding.

Since May 2022, Aptahem is part of a new consortium with, among others, Örebro University, also with funding from the KK Foundation. The aim of the new consortium is to evaluate new treatments to reduce inflammation in cardiovascular diseases and breast cancer.

The joint research project, titled Drug discovery targeting inflammation – novel therapeutic aspects on vascular inflammation, thrombosis and breast cancer, will run over a four-year period with start in late 2022. Aptahem will primarily provide the project with its drug candidate Apta-1 and contribute with expertise competence with Dr. Luiza Jedlina as scientific advisor on aptamer-based therapies and specifically of Apta-1’s inhibition of inflammation and thrombosis.

Aptahem’s CEO Mikael Lindstam was part of the steering committee representing the consortium’s application to the KK Foundation, and was invited to describe the project and answer questions from the KK Foundation before they granted the application.