PIE Magazine
PolyActiva and RareSight Join Forces to Target Rare Pediatric Retinal Diseases
Author: Marhiel Garrote
In a move that could reshape how IRDs are treated, two innovative companies are joining forces to make long-lasting vision therapies a reality.
PolyActiva (Victoria, Australia) and RareSight (California, USA) have announced a strategic collaboration to co-develop sustained-release therapies for rare pediatric retinal diseases, marking PolyActiva’s expansion into new ophthalmic indications beyond glaucoma.
“This collaboration represents an important step in PolyActiva’s growth as we expand our proprietary platform into new therapeutic areas,” said PolyActiva CEO and Board Director Jerry St. Peter in a news release. “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. This effort reflects our broader vision to build a diversified ophthalmic pipeline that delivers durable, targeted and potentially life-changing treatments for people who have long been overlooked.”
Joint focus on long-acting delivery
The partnership will harness PolyActiva’s biodegradable sustain-release implant platform and RareSight’s therapeutic discovery capabilities to address inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) that affect children. The companies plan to develop long-acting pharmacologic therapies capable of maintaining intraocular drug delivery for extended duration, minimizing the need for repeated procedures.
“At RareSight, we are dedicated to preventing sight loss caused by rare pediatric eye diseases,” said RareSight CEO and Founder Carmen Caricchio. “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.”
According to IRD specialist Dr. Sandeep Grover, “As a pioneer of the earliest research in this field and caring for kids and their families for more than two decades, I am encouraged by novel therapeutic strategies that support our goal of helping patients maintain vision, function and independence as long as possible.”
PolyActiva’s portfolio
The collaboration with RareSight expands PolyActiva’s clinical-stage ophthalmic portfolio, which includes PA5108, a new chemical entity and biodegradable ocular micro-implant developed for sustained intraocular pressure control of up to six months using the PREZIA platform. The Phase IIb U.S. study, involving about 75 patients across 12 sites, is currently evaluating the implant’s safety, tolerability and durability over time.
By extending this proprietary pro-drug technology into new therapeutic areas, including rare pediatric retinal diseases, the two companies aim to bring forward much-needed drug-based options for underserved patient groups.