Opus Genetics launched to advance gene therapies for retinal diseases

The Retinal Degeneration Fund (RD Fund), the venture arm of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, today announced the launch of Opus Genetics, a patient-focused gene therapy company efficiently developing therapies for orphan inherited retinal diseases, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.

The $19 million in seed financing was led by the RD Fund with participation from the Manning Family Foundation and Bios Partners.

This is the first spin-out company internally conceived and launched by the RD Fund to further the Foundation’s mission. The initial seed funding will allow Opus to advance the pre-clinical research of its scientific founders, Dr Jean Bennett, the FM Kirby Emeritus Professor of Ophthalmology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Junwei Sun, chief administrator of Penn’s Center for Advanced Retinal Ocular Therapeutics (CAROT), and Dr Eric Pierce, William Chatlos Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Eye and Ear.