Clinical Trials

Aplagon, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of first-in-class therapeutics for thrombo-inflammatory diseases, has announced the closing of a €7m financing round for the initiation of phase 2a of its clinical trials.

Aplagon’s treatment for thrombo-inflammatory diseases, APAC, is a heparin proteoglycan mimetic with antiplatelet and anticoagulant effects. The therapeutic provides long-lasting antithrombotic and anti-inflammatory action in situ by targeting arterial injury sites. This is done through mimicking of naturally occurring mast cell-deprived heparin proteoglycans. Currently, APAC is set to be studied in three upcoming clinical trials, the first being a phase 1 clinical trial for arteriovenous fistula maturation failure. This will be followed by a phase 1 intravenous clinical trial in healthy participants. Lastly the therapeutic will be zinconium-labelled in a Positron emission tomography (PET) trial with peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) as well as healthy patients later this year.

Funding was led by Fåhraeus Startup and Growth AB (FSG), a Nordic venture capital fund, who are new investors, and the European Innovation Council (EIC). In addition to the FSG and the EIC were Finnish investors Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, Innovestor and Gösta Serlachius Fine Arts Foundation.

“We’re delighted to secure this fundraising, and to bring on board FSG and EIC Fund as highly experienced VC investors from outside Finland. We have been making strong progress, and this financing enables us to complete the three international clinical trials we have been running with APAC, and to start a phase 2a study in PAOD and chronic limb threatening ischaemia. Our innovative approach, using a heparin proteoglycan mimetic with targeting ability and retention on the vascular injury sites, has potential applications across a broad range of serious vascular diseases. We are looking forward to announcing clinical results from these trials in 2025 and 2026,” commented Aki Prihti, CEO at Aplagon.

Joining as a member of the Aplagon board is Johanna Asklin, general partner at FSG. In a statement she said: “Thrombo-inflammation is a key underlying driver for many cardiovascular diseases. At FSG we look for revolutionary innovations, and we found precisely that with Aplagon’s APAC approach to treat this clear unmet medical need.”