January 5, 2022 -- Ray Therapeutics has secured $6 million in seed financing, which will be used to advance its optogenetic therapy, Ray-001, into clinical trials to evaluate its effectiveness in treating retinitis pigmentosa.
Preclinical studies have indicated that the therapy provides durable results as a one-time treatment via intravitreal injection. Unlike other retinitis pigmentosa gene therapies that are mutation specific for individuals with remaining photoreceptors, Ray-001 is mutation independent.
Ray-001 uses an intravitreal approach to diffuse from the vitreous into the retina, where it transduces primarily the retinal ganglion cells to restore vision to visually impaired individuals, according to the company.
The seed financing round was led by 4BIO Capital.