FUCO THROMBO Fucoidan as a diagnostic and therapeutic ligand of intravascular thrombi in cardiovascular disease

Thrombotic events remain one of the main causes of mortality and morbidity, involving both the arterial and the venous parts of the circulation. They include myocardial infarction, ischemic strokes and aneurysms. One of the main challenges for medicine is to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic tools able to detect and treat vulnerable thrombi before any clinical expression,which is often irreversible or leads to after-effects.

In order to meet this challenge, the FUCO THROMBO project has identified and patented low molecular weight fucoidan (LMWF), a polymer made from a sulfated polysaccharide extracted from brown seaweed. The LMWF is a powerful ligand which can attach itself to a protein (P-selectin) which is widely expressed in all types of thrombi.

The FUCO THROMBO project aims to optimise production of LMWF at medical grade for the company Algues & Mer, and to establish preclinical proof of concept for the project’s research partners for the development of diagnostic applications in molecular imaging, and for therapeutic applications to lyse endovascular thrombi.