Irvine-based Allergan Inc. is adding to its programs for potentially treating age-related macular degeneration.
The nerve disease primarily affects adults older than 50 and is a major cause of blindness. Some 1.75 million people are affected with the advanced form of the disease, according to the National Institutes of Health’s National Eye Institute.
Allergan said late last month that it will collaborate with Salt Lake City-based Voyant Biotherapeutics LLC to identify pathways and targets to develop potential drugs to treat ocular disease, with a primary focus on age-related macular degeneration.
The maker of Botox and other drugs looks forward “to a productive collaboration with Voyant to identify and develop novel therapies for retinal disease,” Scott Whitcup, Allergan’s chief scientific officer and executive vice president of research and development, said in a news release.
Allergan and Voyant’s deal provides for a mix of upfront, research and milestone payments, although the companies didn’t disclose financial details.
Voyant was formed out of the University of Utah’s John A. Moran Eye Center’s Center for Translational Medicine. The translational medicine center is intended to “expedite the pace at which basic scientific discoveries are translated into clinically effective diagnostics and therapies for the treatment of [age-related macular degeneration] and its co-segregating diseases,” according to the release.
In 2012, Allergan signed development deals with Switzerland-based Molecular Partners AG for age-related macular degeneration treatments. The deals called for $62.5 million in upfront payments from Allergan to Molecular with contract terms providing for possible additional milestone payments of up to a total of $1.4 billion.
Device Makers Busy
Two smaller Aliso Viejo-based medical device makers were busy in February.
OrthAlign Inc. said it signed an exclusive distribution deal with Biomet Japan, a unit of Warsaw, Ind.-based Biomet Corp. OrthAlign makes devices that help orthopedic surgeons navigate procedures for precise positioning of implants.
Biomet Japan will distribute OrthAlign’s KneeAlign device, which the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare cleared in December for use in total knee arthroplasty surgeries.
“There were approximately 70,000 [total knee arthroplasties] in Japan during 2013 and this number will likely increase as the population ages, so this is a very important market for us in our international growth strategy,” James Young Kim, OrthAlign’s vice president of marketing, said in a news release.
Separately, eye device maker WaveTec Vision Systems Inc. recently raised $750,000, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
WaveTec makes devices used in surgeries that replace cataracts with intraocular lenses and that can be mounted directly on surgical microscopes.
The filing didn’t disclose the round’s purposes or an investor.
WaveTec’s past investors include Versant Venture Management LLC, a venture capital firm with an office in Newport Beach. The company was established in 1997 and operated with angel investor funding until Versant made its initial investment in the company in 2005.
Orphan Drugs Research
Costa Mesa-based WCCT Global, a contract research organization, said last month that it will conduct clinical research for companies working on developing orphan drugs.
Orphan drugs are pharmaceuticals developed for rare medical conditions.
WCCT Global said in a news release that it would use a proprietary patient recruitment method for the orphan drug program. It also said it would be able to help companies by being able to determine the best sites to conduct the trial.
The recruitment method “is uniquely applicable to the recruitment issues faced by sponsors that are developing orphan drugs,” said Jon Rojas, WCCT Global’s chief operating officer. “We point this out because we feel there is a need in the clinical research industry that must be filled.”
Bits and Pieces
Newport Beach-based Acacia Research Corp. said last month that one of its subsidiaries partnered with an unnamed research institute on patents relating to ceramics and associated manufacturing processes for medical devices. … Mina Product Development Inc. in Costa Mesa showcased its work at the Medical Device and Manufacturing West show this month in Anaheim. Mina has worked with companies such as Santa Ana-based Abbott Medical Optics on components used in a range of medical devices. … Assisted- and independent-living community San Clemente Villas by the Sea established a program to help residents experiencing mild cognitive impairments.
