NEW YORK – Beacon Therapeutics on Wednesday said it has raised $170 million in a Series B financing round, which it will use to advance its pipeline of gene therapies for retinal diseases.
The funding round was led by life sciences venture capital firm Forbion, with participation from existing investors Syncona and Oxford Science Enterprises. New investors TCGX and Advent Life Sciences also participated in the financing.
Beacon, which launched last year, will use the funding for R&D activities to advance its lead candidate AGTC-501, a gene therapy for X-linked retinitis pigmentosa currently in a registrational clinical trial called VISTA. Last month, patients enrolled in that trial began receiving AGTC-501, which is designed to express the full-length RPGR protein. X-linked retinitis pigmentosa is a rare, inherited disease primarily caused by mutations in the RPGR gene.
In addition to AGTC-501, Beacon plans to begin a Phase I/II clinical trial of a gene therapy for dry age-related macular degeneration.
London-based Beacon has raised about $290 million in funding to date.