CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Vedere Bio,
Inc. (Vedere Bio), a stealth-stage company focused on advancing
photoreceptor-protein-based optogenetic therapies that are
delivered to the retina intravitreally to restore functional
vision, announced today that it has been acquired by Novartis.
Shareholders in Vedere Bio received $150
million upfront and will be eligible for up to $130 million in milestone payments, for a total
of $280 million. Based on technology
from the laboratories of Drs. Ehud
Isacoff and John G. Flannery
of UC Berkeley, and technology directed at enhanced ocular gene
therapy delivery arising jointly between UC Berkeley and the
School of Veterinary Medicine at the
University of Pennsylvania, Vedere Bio was formed in the
Atlas Venture incubator in June 2019.
The company was launched with a $21
million Series A financing and began lab operations at
LabCentral in Cambridge, MA where
it advanced its lead programs from concept to development candidate
within one year. Immediately prior to the acquisition, certain
earlier-stage vision restoration and vision preservation assets
leveraging the company's ocular gene therapy toolbox were spun out
into a newly formed entity – Vedere Bio II, Inc.
"The medical need for new therapies to treat blindness is
unambiguous," said Jay Bradner,
President of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research.
"Vedere Bio's innovative technologies expand the potential for gene
therapy to improve the lives of patients facing vision loss due to
photoreceptor death attributable to a number of prevalent eye
diseases."
"Vedere Bio's photoreceptor-protein-based optogenetics program
has important advantages over competing approaches and brings us
one step closer to delivering functional vision to patients in
need. Our proprietary intravitreal capsids enable not only
Vedere Bio's optogenetics products but also other ocular gene
therapies," said Cyrus Mozayeni,
M.D., Chief Executive Officer, President of Vedere Bio and Atlas
Venture Entrepreneur in Residence. "Our sale to Novartis is an
important milestone in advancing Vedere Bio's most advanced
programs to patients around the world. At the same time, I look
forward to working with our experienced team to advance our highly
innovative, earlier stage assets as part of the newly established
Vedere Bio II."
"Through Vedere Bio's approach, we are able to see the impact of
venture philanthropy in achieving real progress in the development
of new therapies for patients with vision loss," said Ben Yerxa, Ph.D., CEO of Foundation Fighting
Blindness. "For the millions of patients globally living with
inherited retinal degenerations and other eye diseases caused by
photoreceptor death, the advancement of novel optogenetics
therapies provides hope for the future. In addition, we are eager
to partner with Vedere Bio II to accelerate their novel ocular gene
therapy programs."
The newly formed Vedere Bio II, Inc. will operate as a wholly
independent entity from Novartis and Vedere Bio. Vedere Bio II aims
to develop a pipeline of novel vision restoration and vision
preservation medicines by targeting underserved indications. Backed
by the full Vedere Bio investor syndicate of Atlas Venture, Mission
BioCapital and Foundation Fighting Blindness (RD Fund), the Vedere
Bio II team will launch with Vedere Bio's founders, team and
facilities to advance its pipeline.
"The acquisition of Vedere Bio by Novartis speaks to the
strength of the underlying science from our founders and to the
incredible job the team has done in advancing these programs over
the past year. We are very excited by the potential of this
technology and the opportunity to deliver true restoration of sight
for patients who have been living in darkness for so long," said
Kevin Bitterman, Ph.D., Partner at
Atlas Venture and Chairman of the Vedere Bio Board of Directors.
"Since Vedere Bio was founded in 2019, the company has moved with
unprecedented urgency over the course of one year to advance from
concept to development candidate. We look forward to the
advancement of the lead programs by Novartis and are eager to see
the progress of the Vedere Bio II team in the future to develop
novel ocular gene therapies for patients in need."
The transaction closed in September
2020.
About Vedere Bio II, Inc.
Vedere Bio II, which will be
referred to as Vedere going forward, is a privately held, emerging
biopharmaceutical company leveraging an ocular gene therapy toolbox
to develop a pipeline of vision restoration and vision preservation
therapies. Comprised of a diverse team of pioneering scientists,
Vedere Bio II is discovering and developing next generation ocular
gene therapies to make vision restoration a reality in areas of
high global unmet medical need. The company is headquartered in
Cambridge, MA and is funded by
Atlas Venture, Mission BioCapital and Foundation Fighting Blindness
(RD Fund). For more information, please visit
www.vederebio.com or follow Vedere Bio II on Twitter and
LinkedIn.
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SOURCE Vedere Bio, Inc.