UCL spinout tackling eye disease announces £57m launch

Tenpoint Therapeutics, which spun out of UCL in 2021, has announced the largest amount raised for a UK university spinout this year, to address degenerative eye diseases. The biotechnology company uses pioneering cell engineering to replace damaged cells in the eye to tackle age-related or inherited sight loss. The technology could potentially restore sight to millions affected. The experts at Tenpoint Therapeutics, from the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, Moorfields Eye Hospital, Institut de la Vision in Paris and the University of Washington in the US, are the first to combine different types of cell-based therapeutics and enable treatments that are tailored to the nature of individual cases, replacing cells in the eye that have been damaged by age-related or inherited disease. Co-founder Professor Pete Coffey (UCL Institute of Ophthalmology) said: "We have developed a unique combination of ex vivo cell engineering, where we use stem cell technology to generate new healthy cells, and in vivo reprogramming, where we built on learning from fish and amphibians that can regenerate neural cells by reprogramming structural cells in the retina. This allows us to confidently address degenerative ocular diseases and personalise treatment to individuals." CEO Eddy Anglade said: "At Tenpoint, we are focused exclusively on the eye and on harnessing recent advances in regenerative biology to advance our therapies as we work to change the future for people with vision loss by addressing its underlying causes." The £57m in funding will allow Tenpoint Therapeutics to develop its regenerative platform to target multiple cell types related to inherited and age-related conditions.