Cirrus Therapeutics

Cirrus Therapeutics is an ocular immunology-focused company co-founded by Dr. Kai Chan, former Chief Scientific Officer of Ally Therapeutics and Blavatnik Fellow at Harvard Business School, and Dr. Andrew Dick, Professor and Head of the Academic Unit of Ophthalmology at the University of Bristol and Director of UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. Cirrus, a spin-out from the University of Bristol, is developing treatments for long-term eye diseases that can cause blindness, focusing on conditions that affect the ocular immune system. Cirrus’ lead program is a differentiated and first-in-class approach to treating dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of vision loss among older adults. Dr. Dick, Dr. Chan, and colleagues found that increasing the protein IRAK-M in retinal cells can significantly protect against retinal degeneration. This discovery will build and improve upon current treatments for AMD, which only have the capacity to address single pathophysiology pathways. Cirrus’ novel approach not only addresses the multiple pathways involved in treating AMD but also offers the most compelling and evidence-based strategy available today. MARKET POTENTIAL The AMD market is rapidly growing—especially as global populations age—and is expected to reach $27.5 billion by 2031.