Syncona Ltd, a leading healthcare company focused on founding, building and funding global leaders in life science, announces that its portfolio company, Gyroscope Therapeutics (Gyroscope), an ophthalmology company developing genetically defined therapies for retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), has commenced dosing in a Phase I/II trial in dry AMD.
Gyroscope was founded to explore the convergence of several recent advancements made in the understanding of eye disease, particularly the impact of the complement system, the genetic basis of AMD, and gene therapy as a mode of treatment delivery. The first patient in the trial was successfully dosed in January. The procedure was carried out at the John Radcliffe Hospital by Prof. Robert MacLaren, Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Oxford, with the support of the National Institute of Health Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centre.
Chris Hollowood, Chief Investment Officer of Syncona and Chairman of Gyroscope, said: “The evolution of Gyroscope into a clinical stage company is a great milestone and an example of Syncona’s expertise in harnessing ‘Third Wave’ technologies to develop therapies for serious diseases. Gene therapies are at the forefront of a new generation of treatments for retinal diseases and we are excited by the potential of Gyroscope’s novel approach to address one of the world’s biggest causes of blindness.”
Soraya Bekkali, Chief Executive of Gyroscope Therapeutics, said: “Our goal, at Gyroscope, is to advance new genetically defined therapies for the treatment of debilitating eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration. We are very pleased that the first patient has been treated in this trial and believe this is a great step forward in developing a therapy to treat Dry AMD, a complex disease for which there are no current available therapies.”