ONLINE ONLY HOTLINK: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30513356/

UK-based EyeBio has announced plans for a global phase 1b/2 clinical trial of Restoret (EYE-103), a tri-specific Wnt agonist antibody designed to address urgent unmet medical need in patients with posterior-eye diseases.

Having demonstrated efficacy in preclinical ophthalmic models, including validation in genetic models, the company said Restoret will enable the clinical translation of the extensively studied Wnt pathway for the first time in the eye. Wnt genes encode proteins driving the normal development and maintenance of the blood-retinal barrier, with defects in Wnt signalling causing retinal vascular leakage. According to Wang et al, 2018, loss-of-function mutations in Wnt signalling components also cause rare genetic eye diseases such as Norrie disease and familial exudative vitreoretinopathy with defective ocular vasculature.

Trials should start in the second quarter of 2023, said EyeBio.