Medical technology company Advanced Ocular Systems Ltd has secured a $1.4 million Commercial Ready grant from AusIndustry for its work in treating eye disease.
Medical technology company Advanced Ocular Systems Ltd has secured a $1.4 million Commercial Ready grant from AusIndustry for its work in treating eye disease.
AOS chief scientific officer Professor Simon Carroll said the funding would be used to test a range of compounds for the treatment of inflammatory conditions of the eye.
“These will be new ways of treating the diseases,” he said.
“The treatment will target edema, which relates to the fluid build up in the eye, which ultimately causes damage to the eye.”
Professor Carroll said the federal government initiative under Commer-cial Ready provided an excellent opportunity for companies to expand their world-class intellectual property.
“Our project will create new formulations and delivery systems designed to offer the best treatment outcomes for patients and maximise the marketability of the therapeutic products,” he said.
AOS executive chairman Tony Fitzgerald said the grant provided AOS with added resources to develop new treatments for common inflammatory diseases of the eye.
“It is estimated that 85 million people around the world have diseases of the retina. This constitutes the fastest growing segment of the ophthalmic pharmaceuticals market, currently estimated at about $US7 billion [$A9.3 billion],” he said.
The compounds to be developed through the grant will also be used to treat the rapidly increasing number of age-related eye complaints, and complications arising from diabetes.
The company believes work from the grant will enhance its portfolio of intellectual property in ophthalmic diseases and help attract a major industry partner to drive the project.
Last month, AOS expanded its technology portfolio to include anti-inflammatory treatments for various forms of eye disease by acquiring a series of US patent applications.
Earlier this year, Regenera Ltd changed its name to Advanced Ocular Systems Ltd following its merger with US-based refractive devices company Advanced Ocular Systems Inc on December 30 2005.
Regenera listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in June 2004. Since the name change its share price has fallen from 40 cents to 29 cents earlier this week.
Professor Carroll was appointed chief scientific officer of AOS late last year and has stepped down as executive director of the Western Australian Biomedical Research Institute at Curtin University while retaining a role as professor of Biomedical Research at Curtin University and chairman of AusBiotech Ltd in a non-executive capacity.
