New EU Consortium Focused on Discovery and Development of Novel Eye Therapeutics

KalVista Pharmaceuticals is joining a group of academic and industry researchers to undertake a project known as ‘3D-NET’ (‘Drug Discovery and Development of Novel Eye Therapeutics’).

The four-year project seeks to enable the development of new drugs for the treatment of ocular disease associated with inflammation, neovascularisation, edema and degeneration, through the complementary capabilities of the partners.

The project will be funded through a €1.66 million Marie Curie Industry-Academia Pathways and Partnerships (IAPP) grant award from the EU Seventh Framework Programme (612218/3D-NET).

The consortium partners, in addition to KalVista, include leading researchers in front- and back-of-the-eye diseases, ocular disease models and synthetic chemistry at University College Dublin (Ireland), Universidad de Valladolid (Spain), RenaSci Ltd (Nottingham, UK) and Gadea Grupo Farmacéutico (Spain).

KalVista brings expertise in ocular diseases resulting from diabetes, such as diabetic macular edema, an extensive library of novel compounds already screened for activity in the eye, and proven capabilities in the development of drugs from target identification through to in vitro pharmacology and safety.

“We are delighted to be part of this EU project. The consortium brings a unique combination of skills and opportunities to overcome barriers to ocular drug discovery and development and advance new therapies for a range of eye diseases,” commented Andrew Crockett, KalVista CEO.

Crockett continued, “In addition, this project will provide KalVista with access to new ophthalmology projects and dovetails nicely with our internal programmes focused on intravitreal and oral plasma kallikrein inhibitors for DME. The intravitreal programme is advancing rapidly to the first in human trial, expected to start in early 2014, and we continue to progress our programme focused on novel oral drugs for DME.”