About Optherion
Optherion, Inc. is a biotechnology company that is developing diagnostic and disease-modifying therapeutics for the management and treatment of early-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD), dense deposit disease (DDD, also referred to as membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis [MPGN II]), atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS), and other chronic diseases involving the alternative complement cascade.
Optherion’s intellectual properties are based on recent scientific discoveries linking specific genes to AMD and various renal diseases. AMD is the leading cause of blindness in people over 60 in the developed world. It is estimated that there are 15-20 million people with AMD in the U.S. and more than 50 million worldwide. DDD and aHUS are rare renal diseases that most commonly occur in young people and frequently lead to end-stage renal disease.
Scientific discoveries published in 2005 link Complement Factor H (CFH) and Complement Factor B (CFB)/Complement Component 2 (C2) – both regulators of the alternative complement pathway – to AMD and DDD. Since this time, genetic variations on Chromosome 10 and a limited number of other genes have been implicated in AMD. The range of AMD genetic discoveries forms the basis of the company’s diagnostic and therapeutic development program.
Optherion is located in New Haven, Connecticut, USA and on the biotechnology campus of the University of Iowa in Coralville, Iowa, USA.