Cambridge University spin-out raises $11M to commercialise novel anticoagulant drug

XO1 Ltd, a recently formed biotech spinout from the University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke’s Hospital, has raised $11 million in a Series A funding to help develop an anticoagulant drug which it is claimed has “the potential to save millions of lives”.

The money, from the venture capital firm Index Venture will be used to develop ichorumab, a synthetic antibody created by researchers from Cambridge and Addenbrooke’s.

Ichorumab targets thrombin – an enzyme responsible for blood clotting – and is a synthetic version of a natural antibody which was fortuitously discovered in a patient at Addenbrooke’s in 2008 by consultant haematologist Trevor Baglin.

“This patient arrived in A&E with a head injury, and we rapidly discovered a degree of anticoagulation consistent with severe haemophilia”, said Baglin, “We thought it might be fatal. But to our surprise the bleeding stopped quite normally.”

Baglin, alongside Jim Huntington, a professor at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, proceeded to design a synthetic version of the antibody identified in the patient’s blood as causing the anticoagulation effect without prompting excessive bleeding.

David Grainger, partner at Index Ventures and interim Chief Executive of XO1 Ltd described ichorumab as, “the most exciting drug candidate I have seen in 20 years in the industry”.

Grainger’s enthusiasm stems in part from the fact that the antibody had been present in the patient for years without any negative effect, demonstrating its potential from the outset.

Delicate balance

Anticoagulant drugs, such as warfarin, are widely used to prevent thrombosis – a chief cause of heart attacks and strokes. However, there is a delicate balance to be struck between preventing blood clotting and promoting dangerous bleeding, which limits doses of current anticoagulant drugs.

“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 cause would itself be fatal.”

It is thought that ichorcumab has the potential to change all that.

The antibody can “deliver a high degree of anticoagulation without increased bleeding,” said Huntington, “We’ve never seen that before”.

The $11 million investment comes from the $200 million Life Sciences fund Index launched in March last year to accelerate new drug discovery. The funding will enable XO1 to complete Phase I development of ichorcumab, and to manufacture substantial quantities of the antibody. Grainger told Science|Business he expects “to begin trials in human volunteers within two years”.

The company will operate in virtual mode, without offices or labs, using outsourced drug development expertise from across the globe – an approach that according to Grainger allows for “maximum flexibility to deliver high quality development, faster and cheaper.”

However, with more than seven years from this point to the completion of clinical development, Grainger said it would be difficult to speculate on the drug’s potential market, and where it would be sold.