University College London establishes Athena Vision to commercialise gene therapies for eye diseases.
Athena Vision, a biotechnology developing gene therapies to treat eye diseases, has been launched by University College London (UCL).
The UK-based firm has already entered into a partnership with MeiraGTx, a US-based company also developing ocular gene therapies. Meira will help advance Athena’s gene therapy pipeline through clinical trials, and the two will initially pursue four clinical programmes for inherited retinal conditions.
Cengiz Tarhan, managing director of UCL’s tech transfer arm UCL Business, said: “The formation of Athena and the significant partnership with MeiraGTx provides a clear route for the translation and commercialisation of the world-class research strengths of Professor Robin Ali and his team at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. We look forward to supporting Athena as it commences its important work to deliver novel treatments to benefit patients with vision loss across the world.”
