ExSight is happy to announce an investment in ONL Therapeutics, Inc., an early stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies for preserving sight in a range of retinal diseases. ExSight participated in a convertible note financing round with participation from existing investors. The funding will be used for IND enabling activities, clinical trial preparation and other activities.
 
ONL Therapeutics’ lead molecule, ONL 1204, is a novel, first-in class small molecule fatty acid synthase (“Fas”) inhibitor designed to protect the retina from cell death via both direct and inflammatory signaling in a range of retinal diseases. Fas is a known inducer of apoptosis, or cell death. The death of key retinal cells is the root cause of vision loss and is implicated in a wide range of retinal diseases, including retinal detachment and both the wet and dry forms of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
 
ExSight partner and vitreo-retinal surgeon, Dr. Firas M. Rahhal stated, "No significant advances have occurred in visual results from the management of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment for the last 20 to 30 years.  ONL has developed a therapeutic agent that, along with successful surgical repair, could significantly improve the visual outcomes of this potentially devastating condition. Additionally, the same agent could be similarly useful in the visual outcomes following acute angle closure glaucoma attacks.  This too is an anatomic condition, repaired surgically, for which there have been no significant advances in treatment in recent decades." ONL’s therapeutic approach would be a transformative therapy having significant impact in an area of high unmet medical need. In other words, ONL perfectly fits ExSight’s investment thesis.
 
ExSight has been in contact with John Freshley, ONL President and CEO, and David Zacks, M.D., Ph.D., Co-Founder and CSO, for over 3 years. In that time the company has further de-risked their lead candidate, partnered with Novartis, developed a safe and ethical clinical trial protocol and identified additional potential indications. The ONL team has demonstrated tenacity, ability and significant scientific and clinical insights. The ExSight team is happy to be part of the ONL journey and look forward to contributing domain expertise to the company.  “We are thrilled to invite ExSight into the family of ONL investors. ExSight is uniquely well-qualified to understand and actively contribute to ONL’s mission of protecting the vision of patients with retinal disease,” said Mr. Freshley.
    
For all those reasons and more we are excited to make ONL Therapeutics to the ExSight portfolio.