Opus Genetics founded with focus on inherited retinal diseases
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The Retinal Degeneration Fund announced the launch of Opus Genetics, which will aim to develop gene therapy treatments for orphan inherited retinal diseases, according to a press release.
Opus Genetics is the first spin-out company launched by the foundation, which provided $19 million in seed financing along with participation from the Manning Family Foundation and Bios Partners. The funding will allow the company to advance the preclinical research of its scientific founders, Jean Bennett, MD, PhD, Junwei Sun, and Eric Pierce, MD, PhD, the release said.
“I’ve dedicated my career to the research and development of treatments for blinding diseases, and I’m eager to continue to build on this work with the RD Fund, an organization that understands the science and is deeply ingrained in the patient community,” Bennett said in the release. “Founding Opus enables us to progress our first two programs in Leber congenital amaurosis while building an engine to move additional treatments toward the patients who need them.”
The lead programs are licensed from the University of Pennsylvania and “will focus on treatments to address mutations in genes that cause different forms of Leber congenital amaurosis.” The first candidate, OPGx-001, is designed to address mutations in the LCA5 gene, while OPGx-002 aims to restore protein expression and halt “functional deterioration in patients with retinal dystrophy caused by mutations in the retinal dehydrogenase (RDH12) gene.”
Ben Yerxa, PhD, CEO of the Foundation Fighting Blindness and the RD Fund, is the acting CEO of Opus Genetics. Rusty Kelley, PhD, Peter Ginsberg and Jason Menzo make up the rest of the management team, while Yerxa, Kelley and Bennett serve as the company’s board.
The company intends to file an investigational new drug application for the OPGx-001 program in early 2022.
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