Fovea seals deal with Novartis in degenerative eye diseases

RdCVF, one of the most promising new targets for potential therapy of retinal degeneration, was identified under a research collaboration between the public institute INSERM, in Paris and Novartis. The RdCVF research team at INSERM was led by Fovea’s co-founders, José-Alain Sahel and Thierry Léveillard. Through its license agreement with Novartis, Fovea will fund and conduct pre-clinical and clinical development of RdCVF up to its commercialisation.

In exchange for its contribution, Fovea received exclusive worldwide commercial rights to RdCVF. Novartis can exercise a pre-negotiated one-time call back option, which includes an upfront payment and royalties to Fovea. Should Fovea successfully bring RdCVF to market, Novartis is eligible for development and regulatory milestone payments, as well as royalties on sales.

Sahel, Professor of Ophthalmology and co-founder of Fovea said, “This licensing agreement with Novartis provides the team that has discovered RdCVF the opportunity to pursue work in translating its use into clinical care and patients. RdCVF has the potential to prevent cone cell death not only in Retinitis Pigmentosa, but potentially in other retinal degenerative conditions where no existing palliative or curative treatments exist”.

Retinal degeneration occurs in a genetically heterogeneous group of retinal diseases, very often leading to profound visual impairment or blindness. More than one hundred causal genes have been identified to date.

“Our mission is to develop and provide innovative products to treat ocular diseases and in particular those that affect the retina” said Bernard Gilly, President and CEO of Fovea. “This major in-licensing partnership with Novartis provides Fovea with a novel first-in-class drug that nicely complements our pipeline and further enhances value to our shareholders. It also acknowledges Novartis’ recognition of Fovea’s research and development capabilities”.

RdCVF will first be developed in Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), one of the most common inherited causes of blindness in people below the age of 50, affecting 100,000 Americans, 100,000 Europeans and approximately 1.5 million people, worldwide. There is no known cure. RP qualifies as an orphan disease, and represents a significant market opportunity. The development of RdCVF could also be extended to wider markets, including the highly prevalent atrophic form of Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD).

In RP, as in other retinal degenerations, preventing cone cell death is a meaningful and promising therapeutic approach, as useful vision can be preserved, even in patients with

95 percent cone photoreceptor loss. Such an approach offers hope for preserving vision by protecting remaining cones in patients suffering rod damage, while simultaneously broadening the window for successful therapeutic intervention.

Fovea was founded in May 2005 with backing from five leading European investors led by Sofinnova Partners and including Abingworth Management, The Wellcome Trust, GIMV and Crédit Agricole Private Equity.