Oxford, UK-based, leading ophthalmic gene therapy company with the purpose of restoring and improving the vision of patients with retinal diseases, Beacon Therapeutics raised USD 120 million in funding. The round took place on June 12, 2023. Syncona Limited, with additional investors, including OSE, led the financing for the company.
Purpose of financing for Beacon Therapeutics
With the latest funding, Beacon Therapeutics seeks to progress its pipeline to key value inflexion points.
What the company’s official has to add
David Fellows, Chief Executive Officer of Beacon Therapeutics, commented, “Beacon Therapeutics combines a broad development pipeline, a deep scientific foundation, a strong clinical network, and a highly experienced management team to drive forward a unique late-stage clinical and pre-clinical pipeline. With the 12-month data from our Phase II SKYLINE trial for AGTC-501 expected shortly and two highly innovative and differentiated pipeline assets for prevalent and rare blinding diseases, we are excited to be building a new leader in the ophthalmic gene therapy space.”
In addition, Professor Robert MacLaren, Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Oxford, and Co-Founder of Beacon Therapeutics, commented, “I have dedicated many years to translating pioneering gene therapies from the lab through to clinical trial phase with the support of my team in the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology and NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). Beacon Therapeutics is quite unique in being a company that, at launch, is already underpinned by excellent clinical trial data. The company has both highly innovative retinal gene therapy programmes and the means to target them to the main causes of blindness in both the young and old.”
What the investors have to comment
Chris Hollowood, CEO of Syncona Limited, the lead investor in Beacon Therapeutics, further said, “By acquiring AGTC and combining its late-stage program with highly complementary and innovative science from the University of Oxford and elsewhere, we have created an exciting new gene therapy company in an area where we have a great breadth and depth of knowledge and expertise. We look forward to working closely with Beacon Therapeutics’ exceptional management team to advance these assets through the clinic and towards people suffering from debilitating retinal diseases.”
Besides, Katya Smirnyagina, Senior Partner, Life Sciences, Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), added, “Beacon Therapeutics is truly an exciting new company built around an established scientific foundation and a wealth of experience in the gene therapy and ophthalmology space. We are delighted that expertise spun out from the University of Oxford will become a key component to drive the future success of the business that could bring significant change in the treatment of a broad range of retinal diseases that cause blindness.”
For more extensive analysis and Market Intelligence reports, feel free to approach us.
We try our best to fact-check and bring well-researched as well as non-plagiarized content to you. Please let us know
if there are any discrepancies in any of our published stories,
-how we can improve,
-what stories you would like us to cover
–what information you are looking for in the comments section below or through our contact form! We look forward to your feedback, and thank you for stopping by!
Next Article
