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University of Utah, Allergan collaborate on target-based clinical research
A team of about 50 researchers and 20 clinicians is focused on novel disease pathways.
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Voyant Biotherapeutics, a company formed out of the Center for Translational Medicine at the University of Utah’s John A. Moran Eye Center, is joining forces with Allergan on research and development.
The companies will collaborate on identifying disease-associated pathways and targets and developing new therapeutic agents, particularly for age-related macular degeneration, according to a news release from the Moran Eye Center.
The collaboration was conceived more than 3 years ago, according to Randall J. Olson, MD, CEO of the Moran Eye Center and an OSN Cataract Surgery Board Member.
“[As we] talked to multiple different groups, including a lot of venture capital groups, we came to the conclusion that, really, far and away, the best player, if we could work it out, was Allergan and their incredibly deep, strong retinal research group,” Olson said. “We re-engaged about a year-and-a-half ago, and officially this deal was signed in late December 2013.”
Randall J. Olson
Research efforts are headed by Gregory Hageman, PhD, John A. Moran Presidential Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and executive director of the Center for Translational Medicine.
Collaborative effort
Olson recalled that, initially, Moran Eye Center researchers aimed to collaborate directly with Allergan.
“Originally, we wanted to try to do this directly between Allergan and the university, and there were just a host of issues, concerns and problems that made that very difficult. So, [Voyant] was created as a vehicle that could allow both sides to do what they do well and interact and give kind of a flexible space between,” Olson said. “Other than people directly involved and directly helping to do this work, there’s no venture capital or anybody else involved in that. It’s something that was directly created by all of the players here at Moran.”
Currently, the team comprises about 50 Moran researchers and about 20 Moran clinicians, he said.
Olson noted that Allergan is large enough to devote significant resources to research.
“Allergan essentially more than doubles the total number of people and resources,” he said. “If they think it’s important, they can flex resources we can’t even imagine.”
Focus on disease targets
Current research is primarily focused on AMD and associated cardiovascular disease, Olson said.
“The AMD line has found a very interesting correlation with an important cardiovascular disease as well. So, there’s a renewed effort to try to ramp up an association with cardiology both here at the university as well as Intermountain Healthcare and their cardiology group. We’re kind of following these things where they go,” he said.
Specifically, research is aimed at multiple disease targets.
“At this point, there are 20 targets that are considered to be important and one in particular that is pretty exciting and quite interesting, and that’s far and away the main emphasis,” he said. “Macular degeneration is not just one disease. … There are different diseases that have probably different basic pathways and have different correlating co-segregating diseases that need to be treated differently.” – by Matt Hasson