7/21/2004

To Prevent Blindness New Biotech Firm, Advanced Vision Therapies, is Developing Gene Transfer Technology

Rockville, MD (July 21,0043) AVT is a new biotech company focusing on retinal diseases, which have addressable markets of 10 billion dollars annually. AVT was founded by three scientific directors, formerly with Novartis, to commercialize their pivotal research in localized, ocular-based delivery technology. AVT is initially focused on wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in the United States.

"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 us." said Michael Kaleko, President and Chief Scientific Officer of AVT.

The AVT Breakthrough

A major limitation to the development of therapies for 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. This compares favorably with treatments that require repeated injections into the eye every 4-6 weeks – and will provide a major advance over current therapies in clinical development.

AVT's Mission

AVT's mission is to be a leader in the application of gene transfer technology to the treatment of major sight threatening eye diseases with a focus on:

First Products

The first product, directed at Wet AMD, will deliver a novel anti-angiogenic factor to eliminate the defective blood vessels that cause wet AMD and DPR. Wet AMD 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.

The second product, directed at RP and Dry AMD, will deliver a newly discovered, first-in-class retinal nurturing factor to prolong the life of retinal cells. Dry AMD affects 25% of people over the age of 65 and 40% of people over 75.

Based on the number of new cases each year in conjunction with reasonable estimates for AVT's share of market participation and revenues for each treatment, the market size ranges from 1-3 billion dollars per year.