Sun Pharma,Intrexon form JV to develop eye treatment therapies

Companies will share in both the financing of, and the revenues from, the joint venture

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and US-based Intrexon Corporation have formed a joint venture to develop controllable gene-based therapies for the treatment of eye diseases that cause partial or total blindness.

The joint venture will leverage Sun Pharma's capabilities and experience in developing and manufacturing complex dosage forms and speciality pharmaceuticals for niche therapy areas, it added.

Intrexon and Sun Pharma will share in both the financing of, and the revenues from, the joint venture, the company said in a statement.

Commenting on the development, Sun Pharma MD Dilip Shanghvi said: "We believe Intrexon's biotechnology capabilities will enable us to develop not one, but several highly effective, novel treatments for multiple ocular disorders where there is currently an unmet need."

Through an exclusive channel collaboration (ECC), the joint venture will have access to Intrexon's full suite of proprietary synthetic biology technologies, including it's RheoSwitch Therapeutic System platform, it added.

RTS may address a long-standing limitation of current approaches by enabling patients to receive a targeted biologic therapy without having to endure a lifetime of injections, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries said.

"In combination with Sun Pharma's tremendous development and manufacturing experience, we hope to produce a therapy that is minimally invasive as well as maximally effective in treating these debilitating diseases," Intrexon Health Sector Senior Vice President Samuel Broder said.

Initial targets are dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma and retinitis pigmentosa, it added.

In addition to the initial targets, the companies intend to further expand the future pipeline of targeted ocular diseases to potentially include wet AMD, macular edema, non- infectious uveitis and diabetic retinopathy, the company said.