Oral al­ter­na­tive to eye in­jec­tions? No­vo backs start­up’s big plan to re­pur­pose shelved drug

For pa­tients with di­a­bet­ic retinopa­thy, an­ti-VEGF in­jec­tions to the eye are of­ten the on­ly non-sur­gi­cal op­tion to stave off vi­sion loss. But in re­cent years, sev­er­al Big Phar­ma play­ers — in­clud­ing Roche and Bay­er — are be­gin­ning to test drugs that can be giv­en oral­ly.

A biotech start­up out of Copen­hagen wants to give them a run for their mon­ey.

Found­ed by No­vo Seeds, Br­eye Ther­a­peu­tics (rhymes with “eye”) is com­ing out of the gate with $4 mil­lion in seed fund­ing from No­vo Hold­ings and Sound Bioven­tures. Its lead drug comes from Zealand Phar­ma, where Br­eye CEO Ul­rik Mouritzen served as head of clin­i­cal de­vel­op­ment be­fore launch­ing the new com­pa­ny in 2019.

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.

SIGN UP LOG IN BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER