Oxford Biomedica receives $250,000 to tackle blindness

Investment

Oxford BioMedica has received a planned further investment of $250,000 under the collaboration agreement with the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) through its translational research arm the National Neurovision Research Institute (NNRI).

The investment, which originated from Paul Manning, a director of the NNRI, is to support the development of StarGen, Oxford BioMedica’s gene therapy product which aims to deliver a corrected version of a gene that is mutated in patients with Stargardt disease, the most common retinal disease in children.

Under the original collaboration agreement announced in October 2006, the FFB and a consortium of investors committed to invest up to $3.9 million in the StarGen programme, by subscribing to Oxford BioMedica shares.

“StarGen holds promise for being a highly effective treatment for people affected by recessive Stargardt disease, many forms of cone-rod dystrophy, and other retinal degenerative diseases caused by variations in the ABCA4 gene,” said Stephen Rose, Chief Research Officer at the Foundation Fighting Blindness. “These diseases cause substantial vision loss, often at an early age, and there are virtually no treatments available for them.”

StarGen has shown preclinical efficacy in the only available animal model of Stargardt disease. A single administration was effective for the duration of the six-month study. Further preclinical development is ongoing or beginning at sites in the US, including Columbia University, Yerkes Research Center at Emory University and Oregon Health and Science University.