Israel based Tarsius Pharma, a company developing a breakthrough platform technology for the treatment of blinding ocular diseases, has been awarded a highly competitive HRIZON 2020 Grant from the European Commission worth 2.4 million EUR (~$2.6 million). 

TRS, the Tarsius bio-inspired technology, approaches inflammatory diseases from within the immune system. Tarsius Pharma implements a patented, proprietary new molecule which was developed to 're-engineer' the immune system.

Ocular inflammatory diseases impose a significant medical and economic burden on society, affecting hundreds of million people worldwide and posing severe risks of vision loss and blindness. The global ocular inflammation treatment market is expected to exceed US$ 500 Billion by 2024 at a CAGR of 6%. Uveitis – inflammation of the uvea – is an ophthalmic emergency requiring urgent treatment, and is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness worldwide.

In more than 50 years, corticosteroids are the most common method used to treat ocular non-infectious inflammation of any kind. Rather than treating the disease itself, however, steroids merely relieve its symptoms, and long-term use can result in devastating consequences.

A bright future for patients suffering from blinding ocular diseases

The TRS Platform Technology has the potential to effectively treat a broad array of autoimmune and inflammatory ocular diseases. Untreated, these diseases can have devastating effects, and may eventually lead to blindness.

"We are delighted to be awarded the Horizon 2020 Grant, which validates the need for a viable solution where other approaches have been unsuccessful in treating this patient population," said Dr. Daphne Haim-Langford, founder and CEO of Tarsius Pharma. "With this funding, we look forward to launch the clinical development program of Tarsius platform technology. We believe that our treatment approach will have the capability to disrupt the immune mechanism that causes the disease in order to provide patients with a safe and long-lasting therapeutic effect, with the goal of saving their sight."