Cirrus Therapeutics Inc. has closed an $11 million seed financing to advance its pipeline of gene and cell therapies designed to preserve sight and extend ocular healthspan in patients with chronic blinding diseases.
Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is neuroinflammatory disease characterized by optic neuritis and myelitis with presence of anti-aquaporin-4 (AQP4) antibodies. Satralizumab is an anti-IL-6 receptor (IL-6R) humanized antibody approved for preventing relapses in NMOSD (AQP4 IgG positive) in adults and children in Japan.
Opus Genetics Inc. will be sitting down with the U.S. FDA to talk about positive three-month data from the pediatric cohort of its ongoing phase I/II trial called OPGx-LCA5-1001 – partially funded by the agency – evaluating OPGx-LCA5, a gene augmentation therapy for ultra-rare Leber congenital amaurosis type 5 (LCA5). The affliction is a severe form of retinal dystrophy that renders babies blind in the first year of life.
Shenzhen Bay Laboratory has identified compounds reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer, eye, cardiovascular, metabolic, autoimmune, inflammatory, neurological and dermatological disorders.
Iveena Delivery Systems Inc. has been awarded a $2 million phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Eye Institute (NEI) to advance the development of novel topical eye drops to control pediatric myopia and other refractive disorders.
As Wall Street awaits phase IIb data from Kala Bio Inc. with KPI-012 in persistent corneal epithelial defect, odds are being weighed for that candidate – and others in development – against the lone approved treatment used in a market already worth more than $1 billion.
To say the team at Ollin Biosciences Inc. has some experience in ophthalmology would be an understatement. The company, which emerged from stealth with $100 million in venture capital and two in-licensed assets with plans to add more, brings to the table years of expertise from work on blockbuster retinal disease drugs Lucentis (ranibizumab, Roche AG) and Vabysmo (faricimab, Roche AG).
Sitala Bio Ltd. has divulged complement factor B (CFB) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration, schizophrenia, atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, membranous nephropathy, myasthenia gravis, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, diabetic retinopathy and rheumatoid arthritis, among others.
Axovia Therapeutics Inc. has been awarded a new $1.0 million grant by the nonprofit organization A Race Against Blindness to support the clinical development of AXV-101, an investigational gene therapy aimed at combating childhood blindness due to retinitis pigmentosa caused by Bardet-Biedl syndrome 1 (BBS1).
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