FreeOx Biotech, a CataloniaBio & HealthTech member, has signed an exclusive licence agreement to develop and exploit the product patent of the molecule Ox-02 with the Hospital Clinic  Barcelona, the August Pi i Sunyer  Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), who own the patent.

Ox-02 is an innovative molecule with neuroprotective properties that are very beneficial for the treatment of ischaemic stroke. It was developed through years of research at the Functional Unit for Cerebrovascular Disease of the Hospital Clinic, led by Dr Ángel Chamorro, and the formulation study run by CIC biomaGUNE.

Recent preclinical studies using animal models run by Dr Anna Planas at the CSIC, have shown that Ox-02 has greater efficacy in some variables than its predecessor Ox-01 (in Phase IIb). The base of the two molecules is uric acid, but Ox-02 is integrated in a liposome capsule that boosts its effect. In certain patient groups with stroke, Ox-01 has shown an absolute benefit of up to 20% when compared to placebo of being free from  permanent after-effects of the disease, and it is hoped that Ox-02 will exceed this.

The aim of FreeOx Biotech is for Ox-02 to reach the market in 2027 with a new neuroprotection and treatment paradigm for stroke through a partnership with the pharmaceutical industry.

Photo: Carlos Lurigados and Ángel Chamorro