Cirrus launches with $11m to push gene therapy for dry AMD

US biotech Cirrus Therapeutics has emerged from stealth with $11 million in seed financing to advance a gene therapy for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The round, led by Singapore’s ClavystBio alongside Polaris Partners and SEEDS, will fund preclinical studies of the company’s lead program.

Cirrus is developing an adeno-associated virus therapy aimed at replenishing IRAK-M, a retinal immune regulator that declines with age and is markedly deficient in patients with dry AMD. The company’s founders say restoring IRAK-M could modify disease biology rather than simply address downstream pathways.

“Replenishing IRAK-M expression offers an exciting opportunity to target an underlying driver of retinal degeneration – aging itself – thwarting the multi-pathway activity that leads to AMD and preventing or reversing vision loss,” said co-founder and chief scientific advisor Andrew Dick.