PolyActiva, RareSight Partner to Develop Therapies for Rare Pediatric Retinal Diseases

PolyActiva, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering a novel drug delivery technology to improve outcomes for patients with ocular conditions, and RareSight Inc., an ophthalmology-focused life sciences company committed to advancing therapies for inherited retinal diseases (IRDs), have joined forces to develop first-in-class therapies for rare pediatric retinal diseases that currently have no approved drug treatments.

The research collaboration agreement, leveraging PolyActiva’s proprietary PREZIA platform, will offer new chemical entity (NCE)-eligible pro-drug candidates to people affected by blinding eye conditions. Administered intravitreally, the approach will deliver sustained-release, zero-order treatment directly to the retina, requiring no patient administration—a key benefit for children and their caregivers.

“This collaboration represents an important step in PolyActiva’s growth as we expand our proprietary platform into new therapeutic areas,” said Jerry St. Peter, CEO and Board Director of PolyActiva. “Partnering with RareSight allows us to apply our PREZIA technology beyond glaucoma to address the urgent unmet needs of children living with inherited retinal disorders.”

“At RareSight, we are dedicated to preventing sight loss caused by rare pediatric eye diseases,” said Carmen Caricchio, CEO and Founder of RareSight. “By combining RareSight’s therapeutic discovery and development expertise with PolyActiva’s novel drug delivery platform, this collaboration represents a major step toward transforming how inherited eye diseases are treated. Together, we are advancing a new class of long-acting pharmacologic therapies to address early-onset vision loss, with the potential to change a child’s life and bring hope to generations to come.”