Neurotech is a privately held biotechnology company developing sight-saving therapeutics for chronic retinal diseases—including indications that address significant unmet medical needs and that, as a whole, represent the largest market opportunity in ophthalmology. The Company’s lead product candidate, NT-501, is currently in late-stage clinical development for geographic atrophy (GA), a serious sight-threatening condition associated with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and for retinitis pigmentosa (RP). In March 2009, Neurotech announced positive results and the achievement of proof of concept in the Phase 2 clinical study of NT-501 for the treatment of GA. In May 2009, Neurotech announced that NT-501 exhibited a biological effect on the retina that appears to be neuroprotective in two Phase 2 clinical studies of NT-501 in early and late stage subjects with RP. The Company also has plans to initiate clinical studies in wet AMD for its second product candidate, NT-503, in the near future.

Neurotech's current clinical programs are centered around the Company's patented core technology platform, Encapsulated Cell Technology (ECT). ECT enables the controlled, continuous delivery of proprietary therapeutic factors directly to the retina, bypassing the blood-retinal barrier and thereby 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.

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 24 months) to the back of the eye and retina has been demonstrated with ECT devices in recent clinical studies, thereby confirming the long-term cell viability of ECT. Close to 200 patients have been treated to date using ECT. For the most recent status of the Company's clinical programs, please visit our latest news.