■ Visus Therapeutics Inc. has entered into a worldwide exclusive licensing agreement with Cella Therapeutics that will see the partners develop investigational ophthalmic therapies to treat glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The former company has also forged a worldwide exclusive licensing agreement with DelSiTech Ltd. to develop novel drug-delivery technology. DelSiTech makes advanced, biodegradable, silica-based, controlled-release materials, that can “help optimize the clinical benefit of ophthalmic therapies,” according to a news release.

Visus plans to advance preclinical development programs targeting elevated IOP, neuroprotection, and neuroenhancement in patients with glaucoma and geographic atrophy secondary to AMD. The licensing agreement with DelSiTech will allow Visus Therapeutics to develop investigational treatments for intraocular administration based on DelSiTech’s proprietary Silica Matrix platform.

“The synergistic nature of Cella’s novel, investigational therapeutics for glaucoma and geographic atrophy in combination with DelSiTech’s innovative drug delivery technology has the potential to yield profound advancements in the treatments of these very serious eye diseases,” said Rhett Schiffman, MD, MS, MHSA, cofounder, chief medical officer, and head of research and development at Visus Therapeutics, in a news release. “Our seasoned team of scientists have dedicated their lives’ work to the discovery and development of sight-preserving treatments. The addition of these assets to the Visus Therapeutics portfolio enables our team to harness their collective expertise in pursuit of dramatically improving patient outcomes.”