Aviceda Announces Dosing of First Patient With AVD-104, a Novel Glyco-Mimetic Nanoparticle for the Treatment of Geographic Atrophy from Macular Degeneration, in the Phase 2 SIGLEC Trial

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aviceda Therapeutics, a private clinical-stage biotech company focused on developing next generation immuno-modulators by harnessing the power of glycobiology to alleviate chronic, non-resolving inflammation, announced the dosing of its first patient with AVD-104 in its Phase 2 SIGLEC Trial today by Ashkan Abbey, MD of Texas Retina Associates in Dallas. This lead intravitreal asset is a novel glycan-coated nanoparticle, supported by a uniquely strong pre-clinical in vivo efficacy and safety profile, used for the treatment of geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). “I am honored to be the first to dose a new agent that we hope will usher in a generation of safe treatments for GA with better outcomes than were ever possible before,” said Dr. Abbey.

“AVD-104 is a potentially transformative targeted approach for patients with GA due to AMD,” said David Callanan, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Aviceda. “AVD-104 attacks two fundamental processes in GA by modulating critical inflammatory pathways through the inhibition of retinal macrophage inflammatory activity and repolarization of activated macrophages to their resolution states, and, through inhibition of complement cascade amplification. Based on this dual mechanism and the exquisite selectivity and preclinical potency of AVD-104, we believe it could provide a profound benefit for patients in dire need of new therapies. We have designed our Phase 2 trial to move efficiently through dose escalation and to increase the chances of seeing early signals of clinical activity.”

Tarek Hassan, M.D., Aviceda’ s Chief Development Officer commented, “I am thrilled to get to the clinic with this first-in-class new drug, and its powerful mechanisms of action that focus on converting activated macrophages to their resolution states, as well as inhibiting complement activation, to safely achieve the next level of efficacy in treating GA from AMD. Soon we look to be able to modulate the inflammatory activity of most immune cells with our HALOS™ (High-Affinity Ligands of Siglecs) platform technology and thereby specifically target other therapeutic areas with unmet needs in immunology, fibrosis, neurology, and others.”

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