Neurotech is a privately held biotechnology company developing sight-saving therapeutics for chronic retinal diseases—including indications with significant unmet medical need that, as a whole, represent the largest market opportunity in ophthalmology.

Neurotech's lead product candidate, NT-501, is currently being studied in two Phase 2 trials to treat visual loss associated with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and is being studied in a Phase 2 trial to treat geographic atrophy—a serious sight-threatening condition involving an advanced stage of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). NT-501 received Orphan Drug Status for the treatment of RP and Fast Track designation for the treatment of RP and dry AMD from the Food and Drug Administration. The Company has additional product candidates and plans to initiate clinical studies to treat wet AMD in 2009.

Neurotech’s patented core technology platform, Encapsulated Cell Technology (ECT) enables the controlled, continuous delivery of proprietary therapeutic factors directly to the retina, bypassing the blood-retinal barrier and overcoming a major obstacle in the treatment of retinal diseases. Conventional approaches to therapy are limited by the absence of an acceptable means of sustained protein delivery across the blood-retinal barrier. While therapeutic agents can be injected directly into the eye, this is an impractical approach if regular administration is required. Neurotech's ECT implants are semi-permeable, hollow fiber membranes that encapsulate genetically modified cells that produce a specific therapeutic protein. Long-term protein delivery (up to 18 months) to the back of the eye and retina has consistently been demonstrated with ECT devices in preclinical studies and recent clinical results continue to support the long-term cell viability of ECT.