Beacon Therapeutics, a London, UK-based ophthalmic gene therapy company, raised $170M in Series B funding.
The round, which brought the total amount to $290M, was led by Forbion, with participation from Syncona Limited, Oxford Science Enterprises and the University of Oxford, as well as initial investments from TCGX and Advent Life Sciences.
The company intends to use the funds to support the continued clinical development of its lead asset, AGTC-501 for X-Linked Retinitis Pigmentosa (XLRP) and generate Phase 1/2 clinical trial data for the Company’s Dry Age-related Macular Degeneration (dAMD) program.
Led by CEO David Fellows, Beacon Therapeutics is an ophthalmic gene therapy company to save and restore the vision of patients with a range of prevalent and rare retinal diseases that result in blindness. Its lead development candidate AGTC-501, is a gene therapy program currently being investigated for the treatment of XLRP, an inherited monogenic recessive disorder that causes progressive vision loss in boys and young men. It is predominantly caused by mutations in the retinitis pigmentosa GTPase regulator (RPGR) gene. AGTC-501 expresses the full length RPGR protein, thereby addressing the full complement of photoreceptor damage caused by XLRP, including both rod and cone loss.
Commenting on the news, David Fellows said: “We are focused on progressing our pipeline of ophthalmic gene therapies to save and restore the vision of patients with a range of prevalent and rare retinal diseases that result in blindness. I am confident that along with the addition of Dmitrij Hristodorov, Wouter Joustra and Cariad Chester to the Beacon Board, these funds will support the ongoing development of our late-stage and pre-clinical pipeline and enable acceleration of the development of AGTC-501 as we progress through the clinic and toward commercialization.”
FinSMEs
09/07/2024