Voyant, Allergan Enter Exclusive R&D Alliance

Voyant Biotherapeutics, LLC, a company formed out of The John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah’s Center for Translational Medicine (CTM), has signed an exclusive R&D collaboration with Allergan to identify disease-associated pathways and targets for the development of new therapeutics to treat ocular disease. The collaboration will focus on new treatments for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of irreversible vision loss. The agreement provides for a combination of undisclosed upfront, research and milestone payments.
 
“This relationship is special in that it is a true collaboration between CTM, Voyant and Allergan scientists,” said Gregory Hageman, Ph.D., John A. Moran presidential professor, Dept. of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and executive director of Moran’s CTM. “The CTM’s incredibly talented, multidisciplinary research team and its unique cadre of resources have provided a robust understanding of AMD and a solid platform upon which to conduct this collaboration.”
 
“We are extremely excited about the significance of this collaboration,” said Dr. Randall Olson, chief executive officer of the Moran Eye Center. “This collaboration could not have happened without the generous contributions of hundreds of people supporting the CTM in its quest to find new treatments for the prevention and treatment of AMD and other ocular diseases. This collaboration is further testament to the groundbreaking research that is being conducted at the Moran.”
 
“We look forward to a productive collaboration with Voyant to identify and develop novel therapies for retinal disease. This agreement highlights Allergan’s commitment to academic and corporate partnerships to increase long-term innovation,” said Scott Whitcup, chief scientific officer and executive vice president of R&D at Allergan.