Spun out of the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Institute, ONL Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on protecting vision through the protection of photoreceptors. Existing therapies have significant limitations and none address the initial neural component of vision loss - the death of the photoreceptor cell. The novel drug programs being developed by the firm target the FAS apoptotic pathway providing protection for photoreceptors while the underlying disease can be addressed with surgery or concurrent therapies. Photoreceptor cell death is the primary cause of blindness and therapies to protect these cells are crucial if visual outcomes are to improve. By advancing a novel breakthrough technology designed to protect photoreceptors against apoptotic and inflammatory cell death, ONL is pioneering an entirely new approach to preserving sight. Based on its industry-leading expertise in photoreceptor protection, ONL is developing breakthrough treatments for serious, vision-threatening retinal diseases and conditions. Lead therapeutic candidate, ONL1204, is a first-in-class small molecule peptide initially being for the protection of photoreceptors in retinal detachment. Preclinical data to date for ONL1204 demonstrates the drug's ability to protect photoreceptors against the apoptosis process triggered by retinal detachment.
