
SPONSORS
PREMIER SPONSOR
Bausch + Lomb
Bausch + Lomb is dedicated to protecting and enhancing the gift of sight for millions of people around the world – from the moment of birth through every phase of life. Its comprehensive portfolio of more than 400 products includes contact lenses, lens care products, eye care products, ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter products and ophthalmic surgical devices and instruments. Founded in 1853, Bausch + Lomb has a significant global research and development, manufacturing and commercial footprint with more than 12,000 employees and a presence in nearly 100 countries. Bausch + Lomb is headquartered in Vaughan, Ontario with corporate offices in Bridgewater, New Jersey. For more information, visit www.bausch.com and connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
MAJOR SPONSOR
Genentech
Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, has more than 40 years of experience in the field of biotechnology. Genentech is researching and developing new treatments for people living with a range of eye diseases that cause significant visual impairment and blindness, including wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic macular edema (DME), diabetic retinopathy (DR), geographic atrophy (GA), and other retinal diseases.
SUPPORTING SPONSOR
Adverum Biotechnologies
Adverum is pioneering the use of gene therapy as a new standard of care for highly prevalent ocular diseases. Adverum’s lead program, Ixoberogene soroparvovec (Ixo-vec), is designed to be administered as a one-time IVT injection in the physician’s office, deliver long-term efficacy, reduce the burden of frequent anti-VEGF injections, optimize patient compliance, and improve vision outcomes for patients with wet AMD.
INNOVATION SPONSORS
4DMT
4D Molecular Therapeutics (4DMT) is a late-stage biotechnology company focused on unlocking the full potential of genetic medicines to treat large market diseases in ophthalmology and pulmonology. 4DMT’s proprietary invention platform, Therapeutic Vector Evolution, combines the power of directed evolution with approximately one billion synthetic AAV capsid-derived sequences to invent customized and evolved vectors for use in our wholly owned and partnered product candidates. Our lead program 4D-150 is a potential backbone therapy that is designed to provide multi-year sustained delivery of anti-VEGF (aflibercept and anti-VEGF-C) targeted to the retina with a single, safe, intravitreal injection. Our second core program is 4D-710, which is the first known genetic medicine to demonstrate, in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis (CF), successful delivery and expression of the CFTR transgene and initial clinical activity signals after aerosol delivery of a gene therapy.
Astellas Pharma
Astellas Pharma US, Inc., is a U.S. affiliate of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc., with its headquarters located in Northbrook, Illinois. More than 3,000 Astellas employees are based in the United States. Astellas is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceutical products.
Cloudbreak Pharma
We are a clinical stage global biotechnology company developing ophthalmic drugs for chronic eye diseases which are often with few treatment options. Our broad pipeline was developed by in-house scientists with the experience and expertise to identify new targeted mechanisms of action and craft formulations that are amenable to topical ocular delivery. Our deep understanding of ophthalmic disease pathogenesis and extensive scientific know-how led us to our lead pipeline candidate, CBT-001 – an investigational eye drop treatment with the potential to slow or stop progression of pterygium, a highly underdiagnosed and undertreated disease with no approved drug therapy.
Neurotech Pharmaceuticals
Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a private clinical stage biotech company focused on developing transformative therapies to slow the progression of Macular Telangiectasia (MacTel) Type 2 and other chronic retinal diseases through its core platform technology, Encapsulated Cell Therapy (ECT). To learn more, visit https://www.neurotechpharmaceuticals.com/.
Ocular Therapeutix
Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company committed to redefining the retina experience across drug development, treatment, and outcomes. AXPAXLI™ (axitinib intravitreal hydrogel, also known as OTX-TKI) is Ocular’s leading investigational candidate for retinal diseases, based on its proprietary ELUTYX™ (bioresorbable hydrogel) technology combined with potent tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), axitinib. AXPAXLI is currently in Phase 3 clinical trials for wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) and has potential applications across other retinal diseases such as non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) and diabetic macular edema (DME).
Oculis
Oculis is a global biopharmaceutical company (Nasdaq: OCS; XICE: OCS) purposefully driven to save sight and improve eye care. Oculis’ highly differentiated pipeline of multiple innovative product candidates in development includes: OCS-01, a topical eye drop candidate for diabetic macular edema (DME); Privosegtor (OCS-05), a neuroprotective candidate for acute optic neuritis with potentially broad clinical applications in other neuro-ophthalmic diseases and Licaminlimab (OCS-02), a topical biologic anti-TNFα eye drop candidate for dry eye disease (DED). Headquartered in Switzerland with operations in the U.S. and Iceland, Oculis is led by an experienced management team with a successful track record and supported by leading international healthcare investors.
Ray Therapeutics
Ray Therapeutics Inc (RayTx) is a late-stage preclinical Bay Area biotechnology company pioneering the first-to-market precision optogenetic therapy for vision restoration that is highly active in ambient lighting (and will not require light-enhancing goggles). Our studies have shown for the first time that our proprietary ChRown optogenetic protein can restore high levels of visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and visual field.
RayTx lead asset, RTx-015, is expected to address the huge unmet medical in people suffering from many forms of retinal blindness (independent of the underlying genetic cause), including those with advanced age-related macular degeneration. RayTx has partnered with a world-leading AAV gene therapy manufacturer is utilizing their proprietary commercial manufacturing process and analytics to maximally de-risk clinical development. RayTx anticipates clinical trials will begin by the end of 2023 in our initial indication, retinitis pigmentosa.
REGENXBIO
REGENXBIO is a leading clinical-stage biotechnology company seeking to improve lives through the curative potential of gene therapy. Since its founding in 2009, REGENXBIO has pioneered the development of AAV Therapeutics, an innovative class of gene therapy medicines. REGENXBIO is advancing a pipeline of AAV Therapeutics for retinal and rare diseases, including ABBV-RGX-314 for the treatment of wet AMD and diabetic retinopathy, being developed in collaboration with AbbVie. Designed to be one-time treatments, AAV Therapeutics have the potential to change the way healthcare is delivered for millions of people.