ATXA and the EIC Accelerator: A Lung Drug, No Phase II Registered

ATXA Therapeutics, a Dublin company based at University College Dublin's Conway Institute and led by founder and CEO Therese Kinsella, develops NTP42, a drug that blocks the thromboxane receptor. Its EIC project called NTP42 "a disruptive new drug" for pulmonary arterial hypertension, a disease of high blood pressure in the lungs, and planned a Phase II trial, a licensing deal with a pharmaceutical company and growth to more than 100 staff, according to CORDIS.

The European Innovation Council granted €2,500,000 towards a €4.18 million grant phase in 2023, and ATXA says it was offered up to €8 million in equity for the Phase II stage. The report says the company developed a capsule, tested it in a bridging trial in healthy volunteers, scaled up manufacturing and started long-term toxicity studies, turning ATXA into "a pre-Phase II clinical trial entity". The Phase II trial, which a 2024 crowdfunding page expected to run "from ~ late 2024 through to late 2026", does not appear on ClinicalTrials.gov, where only the two volunteer studies are listed.

Where ATXA Stands Now

In January 2024 ATXA raised €2.71 million from 203 investors for 6.17% of its equity on the Irish platform Spark Venture Funding, which described it as "a pre-revenue company" and said €15 million had been invested in it. Its news page since then lists an innovation award for its CEO in 2024, a presentation at a pulmonary vascular congress in Dublin in January 2026, and a research paper on the thromboxane receptor in Nature Communications in February 2026. None of the posts announces the start of Phase II or a licensing deal.

The Technology: Blocking the Thromboxane Receptor

In the Phase I trial, published in Frontiers in Pharmacology, NTP42 was safe and well tolerated at single doses up to 243 mg and daily doses up to 135 mg, and fully blocked thromboxane-driven platelet aggregation at doses from 1 mg, ATXA said. The EIC report adds that an animal study in lung fibrosis showed benefits comparable to the standard drug nintedanib. None of this measures effect in patients with the disease.

What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows

The grant phase did what it set out to do: a capsule, a bridging trial, manufacturing scale-up and progress on toxicity studies. The project as a whole promised a Phase II trial with more than 100 patients, backed by EIC and venture equity, then a licensing deal. That trial has not started on the public record, and no licensing deal has been announced. CORDIS lists the project as closed.

1. Capsule and bridging trialDelivered13 enrolled, 2023.
2. Scaled-up manufactureDeliveredPer report.
3. Phase II in PAH patientsNot foundNot registered on ClinicalTrials.gov.
4. Pharma licensing dealNot announcedNone by 2026.

The Money

The crowdfunding terms imply ATXA valued itself at roughly €40 million after the round. Whether the EIC Fund invested any of the equity it offered is not public; ATXA's news page does not mention an EIC Fund investment.

What Cannot Be Checked

Why Europe Should Care

The EIC's blended model pays grant money first and equity for the expensive later stage. ATXA is a test case: the preparatory work was reported done, but no Phase II trial, the stage the equity offer was meant to fund, is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov.

The Verdict

ATXA Therapeutics and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.