Voyant Biotherapeutics, Allergan sign R&D agreement

Salt Lake City-The John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah announced that Voyant Biotherapeutics-a company formed out of its Center for Translational Medicine (CTM)-has signed an exclusive research and development collaboration agreement with Allergan.

Under the agreement-which provides for a combination of upfront, research, and milestone payments-the two companies will work together to identify disease-associated pathways and targets for the development of new therapeutic agents to treat ocular diseases. A primary effort of this collaboration will be centered on new treatments for age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

“We are extremely excited about the significance of this collaboration,” said Randall Olson, MD, 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.”

“We look forward to a productive collaboration with Voyant to identify and develop novel therapies for retinal disease,” said Scott Whitcup, MD, chief scientific officer and executive vice president of research and development at Allergan. “This agreement highlights Allergan’s commitment to academic and corporate partnerships to increase long-term innovation.”

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