October 1, 2012
Avalanche Biotechnologies, Inc. announced that it has been awarded two grants from the National Eye Institute to fund pre-clinical studies related to its novel AAV variant technology. The first grant, funded through the SBIR program with Dr. Thomas W. Chalberg as Principal Investigator, is geared toward pre-clinical development of anti-VEGF vectors for diabetic macular edema. The second grant investigates Avalanche’s delivery technology in animal models of glaucoma; this grant was funded through the STTR program and is being coordinated by Avalanche in collaboration with Cornell Weill Medical College, with Dr. Anna-Maria Demetriades as Principal Investigator. The two grants, totaling approximately $600,000, will help advance Avalanche’s technology platform for development and manufacture of AAV variants for long-term protein delivery to the eye. Avalanche’s AAV variants, which can successfully transduce retinal cells following intravitreal injection, represent a promising platform technology with multiple product opportunities for large-market and orphan disorders in ophthalmology.