Fovea Enters into Research Agreement with Genzyme

Fovea Pharmaceuticals SA (Paris, France) has entered into a collaborative research agreement with Genzyme Corporation (Cambridge, MA). The alliance is anchored around Fovea’s proprietary high content technology platform that allows the identification of new targets involved in photoreceptor degeneration in retinal dystrophies. The companies will collaborate to develop gene related therapies using Fovea selected targets and Genzyme gene delivery technologies.

The ultimate cause of irreversible blindness in major retinal diseases is photoreceptor degeneration. According to the Foundation Fighting Blindness, rare inherited retinal dystrophies like Stargardt’s disease or Retinitis pigmentosa are recognized as the most common inherited causes of blindness in people below the age of 50, affecting approximately 1.5 million people worldwide. In addition, in more common retinal disorders like the dry form of age related macular degeneration, sight loss ultimately results from photoreceptor degeneration.

In this complementary partnership, Fovea’s scientific, clinical, and pharmaceutical expertise in retinal diseases and Genzyme’s extensive know-how in protein production and gene delivery will offer customized solutions for the understanding of the disease mechanisms, with the goal to develop new therapeutic strategies to prevent or reduce the severity of blindness.