UK Scientists Win Funding for 'Holy Grail' of Anticoagulant Drugs

Now that would be a magical drug.
http://www.designntrend.com/articles/4917/20130617/uk-scientists-funding-holy-grail-anticoagulant-drugs-prevents-stroke-heart-attacks-without-bleeding.htm
UK scientists have won funding that will allow for the development of a new experimental medicine that could prevent blood clotting without causing bleeding—a previously unachieved feat.

XO1 Ltd. has received $11 million in investments from Index Ventures, which announced the news on Monday. Index Ventures is working with GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson.

The anticoagulant drug, a a synthetic antibody called Ichorcumab, is still far from reaching the market, but has been called the 'holy grail' of anticoagulant drugs for its unusual properties. Clinical trials are set to start within the next two years.

Ichorcumab was developed by scientists at the University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke's Hospital.
"This antibody can deliver a high degree of anticoagulation without increased bleeding; we've never seen that before," said Jim Huntingdon, a professor at the Cambridge Institute of Medical and one of the scientists behind the project.

"This is the most exciting drug candidate I have seen in 20 years in the industry. It has the potential to save millions of lives," Dr David Grainger, Venture Partner at Index Ventures and interim Chief Executive of XO1 Ltd., said.

The scientists created the drug after observing a female patient in her 50s whose blood seemed unable to clot but lacked major bleeding problems following a head injury in 2008.

"Undoubtedly higher doses of these anticoagulant drugs could prevent the majority of heart attacks and strokes," said Dr. Trevor Baglin, a Consultant Haemotologist at Addenbrooke's. "But we can't give higher doses because the bleeding they would cause would itself be fatal. Ichorcumab has the potential to change all that."
In an online statement, Index Ventures wrote:

"The investment - which comes from the $200M Life Sciences fund Index launched with Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline in 2012 to accelerate new drug discovery - is one of the largest-ever Series A investments in a preclinical stage, single-asset company certainly in Europe. Indeed, it ranks as a significant deal even by US standards. But that is entirely appropriate: Ichorcumab is a very special antibody."