Bleeding inside the brain, known as intracerebral haemorrhage, has no approved drug treatment, and 75% of patients die or are left severely disabled, according to the company's EU project report. Op2Lysis, a French biotech registered in Caen, developed O2L-001, a clot-dissolving (thrombolytic) drug "locally injected, after micro-invasive surgery, via a catheter at the core of the hematoma".
The European Innovation Council granted €2,500,000 towards a €10.54 million project meant to "deliver the first medical treatment dedicated to patients with haemorrhagic stroke". It completed animal safety studies and regulatory advice, but no human trial. In June 2025 Op2Lysis entered receivership, in January 2026 it was placed in liquidation and in March 2026 a court approved a plan to sell its business, according to the official BODACC notices.
Company file
- Legal entity
- Op2Lysis, SIREN 819697707, Caen, France
- Registered
- April 2016
- Drug candidate
- O2L-001, based on the OptPA drug substance
- Indication
- Intracerebral haemorrhage
- Stage reached
- Preclinical; EMA and FDA scientific advice
- Status
- Judicial liquidation; sale plan approved 11 March 2026
- EIC project
- OP2DRAIN, 1 Jul 2022 to 30 Jun 2024
- EIC funding
- Blended finance
Where Op2Lysis Stands Today
The Caen commercial court opened a receivership (redressement judiciaire) on 30 June 2025, dating the company's insolvency to 1 June 2025. On 21 January 2026 it converted this into judicial liquidation, and on 11 March 2026 it approved a sale plan (plan de cession), under which a buyer takes over the business. The statement of creditors' claims was filed in May 2026. The BODACC notices do not name the buyer, but the company file on Societe.com records the plan "au profit de la société PHOSKA BIOPHARMA PTE.LTD". The company's domain, op2lysis.com, now shows a placeholder page for "Lysara Biosciences" saying more information is coming soon.
The Technology: Clearing the Clot
According to the CORDIS fact sheet, O2L-001 carries the thrombolytic OptPA in nanoparticles and gels at body temperature for "a local and slow delivery" with a "unique injection", aiming at "reduced side effect (bleeding and neurotoxicity vs gold standard)". The project worked on OptPA, the drug substance, and the formulation of O2L-001. According to the CORDIS report, rat toxicology showed "an excellent safety profile for O2L-001, with only limited, dose-dependent adverse effects observed at the highest tested concentrations".
"To deliver the first medical treatment dedicated to patients with haemorrhagic stroke."
OP2DRAIN project title, CORDISWhat the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
CORDIS reports toxicology studies, a purification process for OptPA that reached target purity, a reproducible formulation compatible with sterile production, a planned transfer of manufacturing to Catalent Biologics at larger scale, and scientific advice from the European Medicines Agency with "no major objections" and from the US FDA. It describes these as preparing the "transition to clinical phase". No trial by Op2Lysis appears on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Preclinical safetyDeliveredRat toxicology completed.
- Manufacturing processPartialProcess set; GMP scale-up planned.
- A first treatment for patientsMissedNo human trial.
- A company that continuesMissedLiquidation, 2026.
What Has Happened Since the Award
The Money
The award was blended finance; we found no EIC Fund investment. The EU grant covered less than a quarter of the €10.54 million budget, leaving about €8 million for Op2Lysis to find. Its only published accounts in the French register data are from 2017. Twelve months after the project ended, the company stopped paying its debts.
What cannot be checked
Who bought the business and for how much, whether the EIC took equity, how much of the project budget was actually raised and spent, and whether O2L-001 will be developed further are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
A drug for brain haemorrhage would address a condition the project report describes as having no approved pharmacological treatment. That is the kind of high-risk bet the EIC exists to make. Here the bet ran out of money before the drug reached a patient, and the business passed through a court-ordered sale to PHOSKA BIOPHARMA.
What the project promised
The first medical treatment dedicated to patients with haemorrhagic stroke.
What the record shows
Animal safety data and regulatory advice; no human trial, receivership, liquidation and a sale plan.
The Verdict
Stopped before the clinic
OP2DRAIN did the preparatory work a drug needs before its first human trial, but the company could not fund that trial. The EU paid €2.5 million towards a drug that has not been given to a single patient, and its future now depends on its buyer, PHOSKA BIOPHARMA.
Op2Lysis could not be asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on EU project data and French official notices, linked throughout.
