Ophthalmology company Polyactiva Pty Ltd closed a AU$40 million (US$25 million) series C round to advance late-stage clinical trials in the U.S. of its lead candidate, PA-5108.
The progression of neurodegeneration during experimental glaucoma is tied to the early degradation of anterograde transport along retinal ganglion cells to central brain targets, which is followed by frank optic nerve degeneration.
Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness and is characterized by the death of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Genetic screening data have identified dual leucine zipper kinase (DLK) and leucine zipper kinase (LZK) as important mediators of RGC death.
Genflow Biosciences plc has announced a development program in ophthalmology focused on advancing a novel gene therapy leveraging its proprietary centenarian SIRT6 (cSIRT6).
Up to 50% of glaucoma cases have a genetic component, a factor which could significantly change the screening recommendations and monitoring of patients – if they know their risk. Seonix Pty. Ltd. has a vision for making that genetic information easier to obtain and use to guide care with its Sightscore saliva-based test.
Perceive Pharma Inc., a spin out from Perceive Biotherapeutics Inc., has closed a $15 million series A funding round to help it advance first-in-class therapies to prevent vision loss in glaucoma, and additional undisclosed disease areas.
Sigma-2 receptor modulation using exogenous ligands reduces cellular damage associated with central nervous system degeneration in age-related pathologies such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease or dry age-related macular degeneration. Researchers from Cognition Therapeutics Inc. described the neuroprotective effect of CT-2074, a sigma-2 receptor in preclinical models of open-angle glaucoma.
Nicox SA has entered into an exclusive research and license option agreement with Glaukos Corp. for NCX-1728, Nicox’s novel nitric oxide (NO)-donating phosphodiesterase PDE5 inhibitor.
A novel gene therapy that leads to cellular rejuvenation could restore vision after non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) and glaucoma. The technique is based on a reprogramming process that reverses the epigenetic DNA alterations caused by aging. Preclinical studies in glaucoma mice and nonhuman primates (NHP) models for this stroke-like disorder that affects the eye, showed an improvement of vision and restoration of the damaged axons of the optic nerve.
Nurexone Biologic Inc. has announced preliminary results from a small-scale controlled study at Sheba Medical Center exploring the use of nanodrug Exopten for optic nerve recovery in a rat model. An optic nerve crush (ONC) model was used to simulate conditions such as glaucoma, where the optic nerve is damaged, resulting in impaired vision.
