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news.Immusol has obtained the worldwide intellectual property rights for research conducted by the University of Kentucky into wet age-related macular degeneration, an eye condition which damages a region of the retina responsible for sharp vision.
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The company is particularly interested in a new biological target that has been identified by the university researchers to play an important role in the progression of the disease. The company will now attempt to build on the research in order to develop a treatment for wet AMD that operates on the target identified in the university research.
Experiments in a rodent model have already shown beneficial results for local therapy with an antibody specific to the rodent form of this unique target. Efforts are now underway to develop an inhibitor that will block this pathway in humans.
“We are excited to license this important new target for wet AMD,” said Dr Nicholas Paoni, Immusol’s vice president of therapeutics. “Preliminary experiments in rodents at the University of Kentucky have been quite encouraging and we are poised to next initiate development of antibodies for the human form of this target. Once developed, an inhibitor for this target could potentially be either mono-therapy for this condition, or alternatively it could be adjunctive to the existing anti-VEGF therapies now on the market or in development.”
Recently, treatment options for patients with wet-AMD have been vastly improved by the recent launch of therapeutics that target VEGF and inhibit angiogenesis.
AMD is the most common cause of irreversible vision loss in individuals over the age of 60 years. It is estimated that 20-25 million people worldwide are affected by AMD, with 8 million exhibiting severe vision loss.