Visus Therapeutics is moving quickly to establish itself in the ophthalmic therapy space. Days after raising $20 million to fuel its pursuit of AbbVie in one indication, Visus has disclosed two deals that add to its R&D options.
Seattle-based Visus is best known as one of a pack of drug developers that are developing eye drops to treat age-related long-sightedness, a condition commonly managed with reading glasses today. With top-line data from a phase 2 clinical trial due by the end of the year and plans to move swiftly into pivotal studies after the readout, Visus is stepping up work on additional assets.
Visus’ desire to expand beyond its lead candidate has resulted in two deals. Firstly, Visus has formed a global licensing agreement with Cella Therapeutics to add an “array” of new chemical entities to its pipeline.
Little is known about Cella or the licensed molecules. Cella has a patent on sustained-release drug delivery for use in treating glaucoma or ocular hypertension. Visus said its agreement with Cella sets it up to advance preclinical “programs targeting elevated intraocular pressure, neuroprotection and neuroenhancement in patients with glaucoma and geographic atrophy secondary to AMD.”
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The second deal gives Visus the right to develop treatments for intraocular administration using a biodegradable, silica-based, sustained-release technology from DelSiTech. Visus said DelSiTech’s silica matrix platform “provides consistent drug release over an extended period of time and dissolves as the drug is released without leaving any residue in the eye,” giving it advantages over other systems.
Visus, which is currently a privately held company, disclosed the deals in the run-up to its first capital markets day, where it will present its pipeline and plans to investors and analysts. VCs including LSP and Johnson & Johnson Innovation have funded Visus’ progress up to this point.