Cambridge, UK – 11 December 2017: Exonate an early stage biotechnology company, today announces that its principal scientist Dr Jennifer Batson will present at Pharmacology 2017 in London on Tuesday 12th December 2017.
She will present ‘A paradigm shift in the treatment of retinal vascular diseases’. The presentation will take place at 13.45 and will be followed by a special networking event from 14:45-16:45.
Dr Batson will present during the session titled ‘Hot trends in pharmacology: new science and the business landscape’.
Her presentation will focus on Exonate’s mission to introduce a revolutionary, game changing eye drop for the treatment of retinal vascular diseases including wet AMD and diabetic macular oedema (DME). Exonate has developed small molecules that inhibit production of pro-angiogenic VEGF through selective inhibition of serine/threonine-protein kinase (SRPK1) – mediated VEGF splicing. Already, these inhibitors have demonstrated superior efficacy as topical agents in preclinical models of wAMD.
The British Pharmacological Society’s flagship annual meeting ‘Pharmacology 2017’ attracts over a 1,000 scientists every year from across the world. Last year, the meeting included 287 poster presentations, 114 oral presentations and received 449 abstracts. This year, Pharmacology runs from Monday 11th – Wednesday 13th December 2017 and is based at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London.
Dr Catherine Beech, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“We are delighted that Dr Batson, our principal scientist at Exonate, will be presenting at Pharmacology 2017. We are confident that it will prove an informative and enriching session focused on new scientific topics of research, trends in pharmacology and innovation in terms of technology and systems. This is an exciting time for Exonate as we work on a ground-breaking eye-drop treatment, and we look forward to providing further updates in due course.”
A copy of the presentation will be available on Exonate’s website www.exonate.com after the presentation.
Contacts
Exonate Limited
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 437042
Louise Shave, Marketing
louise.shave@exonate.com
FTI Consulting
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3727 1000
Mo Noonan / Lucy McKeone
About Exonate
Exonate is a privately held, early stage, biotech company spun out of the University of Nottingham that is focused on Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in areas of unmet need, such as ophthalmology, pain, nephropathy and cancer. Exonate’s lead programme is focused on Diabetic macular oedema (DME). A consequence of diabetic retinopathy, DME is swelling in an area of the retina called the macula and wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration (wAMD), which is the leading cause of vision loss in people aged 60 and older. The Company is founded on scientific excellence with strong links to Professor David Bates and his lab at Nottingham University specialising in the biology and biochemical pathways of VEGF splice variants.
Exonate have developed small molecules that inhibit production of pro-angiogenic VEGF through selective inhibition of serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (SRPK1)-mediated VEGF splicing. These inhibitors have already demonstrated superior efficacy as topical agents in preclinical models of wet AMD. Through a Wellcome Trust funded project, Exonate will complete an optimisation programme to nominate a pre-clinical candidate drug with optimal characteristics ahead of regulatory toxicology and safety pharmacology studies which will support an application to the regulatory authorities for clinical evaluation. Exonate expects to reach this milestone and enter the clinic in early 2020.
Exonate is led by an experienced, international management team that has previously worked together with cross-disciplinary experience in medicine and drug development, as well as successful fundraising for early stage companies.
About Diabetic macular oedema (DME)*
DME is the build-up of fluid (oedema) in a region of the retina called the macula. The macula is important for the sharp, straight-ahead vision that is used for reading, recognising faces, and driving. DME is the most common cause of vision loss among people with diabetic retinopathy. About half of all people with diabetic retinopathy will develop DME and although it is more likely to occur as diabetic retinopathy worsens, DME can happen at any stage of the disease.
About wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration (wAMD)
Today, wAMD is a leading cause of vision loss in people aged 60 years or older and affects more than 30 million patients worldwide, over 200,000 of those in the UK alone. If untreated patients are likely to lose sight in the affected eye within 24 months of disease onset.
The current standard-of-care treatment options for DME and wAMD are
Anti-VEGF antibody drugs – to prevent the growth of new blood vessels in the Unlike small molecule drugs or eye drops, these treatments must be injected into the eye once every 1-2 months. Resistance can develop to these drugs causing the disease to progress anew.
Laser surgery – to destroy abnormal blood vessels in the eye. This type of surgery is only suitable if blood vessel damage is not too extensive and if the abnormal blood vessels aren’t close to the fovea, as performing surgery close to this part of the eye can cause permanent vision.
With DME, Corticosteroids either injected or implanted into the eye, may be used alone or in combination with other drugs or laser surgery to treat DME