Ocular immunology-focused biotech Cirrus Therapeutics has raised $11 million in seed financing to advance its pipeline of gene and cell therapies targeting chronic blinding diseases, including dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the company announced on Friday.
The round was led by ClavystBio, a life sciences venture builder backed by Temasek, with participation from Polaris Partners and SEEDS.
The company said the proceeds will be used to advance its lead gene therapy programme into preclinical studies.
“Current approved treatments for dry AMD, and much of the therapeutic pipeline, target a single disease-implicated pathway — primarily the complement cascade. To date, however, existing approaches have yet to demonstrate functional benefits,” said Professor Andrew Dick, co-founder and chief scientific advisor of Cirrus, and head of ophthalmology at the University of Bristol and University College London.
The financing follows a June 2024 study published in Science Translational Medicine, in which Cirrus and its academic partners identified a new way to slow or prevent the progression of dry AMD. Early lab studies showed the approach could help protect against vision loss.
The deal adds to a string of recent investments for ClavystBio. Earlier this year, it co-led US biotech Allay Therapeutics’ $57.5m Series D and co-anchored Singapore-based healthtech Respiree’s $11.6m Series A.
The venture builder has also partnered with Singapore’s A*STAR to commercialise medtech innovations.
