ALMAC Discovery and the McClay Foundation are to fund a two-year research collaboration with Ulster University to investigate if a specific type of protein could help to treat diseases of the eye.
A form of the protein, which can reduce the growth or formation of blood vessels, is currently in clinical development by Almac Discovery as a cancer treatment.
Using state-of-the-art technologies, including gene editing, Ulster University’s Professor Tara Moore and her team of researchers will closely examine the effects of the protein, known as FKBP-L, after it is administered to the eye.
The objective will be to observe the protein and develop an understanding of precisely how and why it works so that methods of treatment delivery can be created or refined.