Vedere Bio II, an optogenics AAV gene therapy company, announced this week that it would be closing its doors.
Initially established in 2020, Vedere Bio II was the offspring of Novartis’ acquisition of its parent company, Vedere Bio. At the time, Novartis paid $150 million upfront, with a remainder in early regulatory and clinical milestones of $130 million, for a total of $280 million.
Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Vedere Bio II had a mission to address vision loss in patients with inherited retinal dystrophies and geographic atrophy, conditions that could result in total blindness. The company's approach involved administering light-sensing proteins directly into the eye to hopefully restore vision.
In the recent statement, co-signed by its CEO Cyrus Mozayeni and chairman Kevin Bitterman, the company cited disappointing results from preclinical efficacy studies as the deciding factor to cease operations. "The mission of vision restoration for the millions of people who suffer from both genetic and non-genetic causes of vision loss is a worthy one, and we believe the future is bright," the two concluded.
