Mirugen, a start-up founded at the Centre for Eye Research Australia, has received a $1.92M grant from CUREator+ – a national program funded by the Federal Government’s Medical Research Future Fund and delivered by Brandon BioCatalyst and ANDHealth.
The scheme aims to speed up the translation of innovative preclinical and early clinical research.
A media release said Mirugen was developing a treatment which harnesses the regenerative power of the retina’s own stem cells to prevent and reverse damage to the light sensing photoreceptors in the back of the eye.
More than 190 million people worldwide are living with conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa, Stargardt’s disease and age-related macular degeneration – where faulty and damaged photoreceptors lead to vision loss and blindness.
Currently there are no effective treatments for most people with these conditions and no way of reversing vision loss, but the Mirugen team are developing an innovative new therapy which aims to ‘switch on sight’ by restoring lost photoreceptors.
The release said the gene therapy treatment – which is being developed in preclinical studies – involves injecting engineered viruses into the eye to deliver reprograming genes into retinal cells. These genes will then stimulate the stem cells in the eye to develop into new photoreceptors that replace the damaged cells.
Mirugen co-founder Associate Professor Raymond Wong, who is head of Cellular Reprogramming Research at CERA, said the team had achieved promising results in earlier preclinical studies.
“The CUREator + funding will enable my team to conduct essential pre-clinical experiments to accelerate the development of our new gene therapy candidate,” he said.
“Mirugen is on the cusp of translating our research into a possible therapy that could transform lives by restoring vision, so this funding comes at a crucial time as it will help us generate the data needed to attract the investors we need to help us progress into the clinic.
“Our ultimate aim is to get our treatment to patients and create a brighter future for people living with incurable blindness.”
Mirugen will be based in CERA’s genetic engineering laboratories in a collaborative environment which includes vision researchers from the University of Melbourne, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital and CERA’s clinical trials subsidiary, Cerulea Clinical Trials.
More reading
New Eye Health Centre of Western Australia set to open in June
Prof Robyn Guymer: Is Australia ready for the latest AMD therapies?
US investor backs Australian AI innovation, Eyetelligence
