The AVT Mission

Macular Degeneration: Finding a Cure

To be a leader in the application of gene transfer technology to the treatment and cure of the major sight threatening eye diseases with a focus on:

The AVT Breakthrough

A major limitation to the development of therapies for age-related macular degeneration and other retinal diseases is the absence of technology for the efficient delivery of therapeutics to the back of the eye. AVT has overcome this limitation. The company's core technology is a proprietary gene transfer system that is capable of delivering therapeutic proteins to the retina. Most importantly, a single treatment will provide sustained and potentially life-long therapy.

Overview

AVT is a biotech company focusing on cures for back-of-the-eye diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, which have addressable markets of 10 billion dollars annually. These diseases are the leading causes of blindness in the developed world and have probably, at one point or other, touched the families and friends of most of the viewers of this website.

Products

The first product, AVT-1, will deliver a novel anti-angiogenic factor to eliminate the defective blood vessels that cause wet age-related macular degeneration and DPR. The second product, AVT-2, will deliver a newly discovered, first-in-class retinal nurturing factor to prolong the life of retinal cells to treat RP and dry age-related macular degeneration. Dry age-related macular degeneration affects 25% of people over the age of 65 and 40% of people over 75. AVT is uniquely positioned to successfully develop a strong pipeline of products for a broad spectrum of eye diseases. The company's technology package is complete and includes the gene transfer system, a stable of innovative therapeutic proteins, and scale-up technology for commercialization. AVT has established proof of concept for the advantages of its gene transfer technology in animals and is rapidly moving towards clinical application. Finally, AVT is broadening the applicability of its vector platform by incorporating novel technology to regulate the activity of the therapeutic genes.

AVT is Developing Therapies to Prevent Blindness

After cancer, blindness is the disease Americans fear most. AVT is targeting the most common causes of blindness.

Wet age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the developed world. Each year there are 500,000 new cases in the US, Europe, and Japan, with 200,000 in the US alone. As the baby boomers age, the number of patients with the disease is expected to triple over the next two decades.

DPR is also a major cause of blindness in the US with a therapy that is currently suboptimal. After 15 years, 10% of diabetics will have severe visual impairment. Additionally, it is well known that the incidence of diabetes is increasing epidemically.

RP is the most common cause of inherited blindness and accounts for 200,000 cases in the US. The disease can inexorably progress to blindness and there is a strong compassionate need for therapy.

Dry age-related macular degeneration results in a slow, debilitating loss of vision. There is no current therapy, and it predisposes to wet age-related macular degeneration.

Founders/Management Team

The founders and Management Team of AVT are formerly from Novartis, the pharmaceutical giant, and have 30 years combined experience working in biotechnology and large pharma.

Michael Kaleko, M.D., Ph.D. President and Chief Scientific Officer

Sheila Connelly, Ph.D. Vice President, Development

Tianci Luo, Ph.D. Vice President, Research