Acuity Pharmaceuticals Sets its Sights on Seeking Better Treatments to Prevent Blindness

Acuity Pharmaceuticals-the newest resident of the Science Center Port-is using groundbreaking RNA interference technology to develop a new generation of drugs designed to combat two of the most common causes of blindness.

PHILADELPHIA, PA (PRWEB) June 26, 2003 -- Acuity Pharmaceuticals-the newest resident of the Science Center Port-is using groundbreaking RNA interference technology to develop a new generation of drugs designed to combat two of the most common causes of blindness.

Macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy cause blindness in hundreds of thousands of people each year. With the near-epidemic increase in diabetes, that number is only expected to increase," said Acuity CEO Dr. Dale Pfost. The current treatments for these terrible diseases just arent effective enough. We think we can do much better."

According to Dr. Pfost, both of these diseases are caused by the growth of too many blood vessels on the retina. These new blood vessels either leak or crowd out other vessels, leading to blindness.

By using short interfering RNA [siRNA] technology, we think we can knockdown or silence specific target genes, which would allow us to-in effect-turn off this process," Dr. Pfost said. siRNA is one of the hot new areas of pharmaceutical research, and we at Acuity are in the forefront of bringing it into the field of ophthalmic disease."

We are fairly well along in the drug discovery process. We expect to begin human clinical trials within a short period of time," said Dr. Pfost, who is a leading biotechnology industry entrepreneur and executive with broad-based experience in developing and commercializing innovative biomedical technologies.

Acuity Pharmaceuticals is a newly-formed company that is employing technology first developed at the University of Pennsylvania the Scheie Eye Institute. As a new company, Dr. Pfost said it was natural for Acuity to consider locating at the Science Center.

Right now we are a small company and we want to keep our overhead low," he said. We looked at a lot of other spaces before deciding on the Science Center. The Port just gave us the most bang for our buck."

About Acuity Pharmaceuticals
Founded in late 2002, Acuity Pharmaceuticals is a product-focused pharmaceutical firm that is a pioneer in commercializing short interfering RNA (siRNA) therapeutics. Acuity is developing treatments for serious diseases of the eye and retina -- age-related wet macular degeneration (Wet AMD) and diabetic retinopathy (DR). Current therapies for these conditions are limited, and they represent the number one and two causes of irreversible vision loss in the developed world. The number of patients afflicted with AMD and DR is growing rapidly as a result of aging populations and the increasing incidence of diabetes worldwide. The easily accessed and enclosed nature of the eye makes ocular diseases ideal targets for siRNA-based therapies. In preclinical studies, Acuitys siRNA compounds have demonstrated efficacy in shutting down production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a naturally-occurring protein that is central to development of Wet AMD and DR and is also implicated in other diseases. Acuitys core siRNA technology is licensed from the University of Pennsylvania, and was developed by leading retinal researchers at the Scheie Eye Institute. (www.acuitypharma.com)

About the Science Center
The Science Centers mission is to grow regional wealth by developing knowledge communities that fuse talent, capital and opportunity. Since 1963, the Science Center has supported the commercialization of technology and the growth of technology entrepreneurship-helping to launch over 350 technology companies. (www.ScienceCenter.org)