Replay, a biotechnology startup built around several gene therapy technologies, has launched the first of several planned spinouts, revealing on Monday a company named Eudora.
Replay is only three months from its own debut, having emerged in July with $55 million and a goal to overcome some of gene therapy’s current limitations. The company follows what it terms a “hub-and-spoke” model, aiming to share its technology across several companies, each working on a specific therapeutic area. At the time of its launch, Replay said it had already formed five “spoke” companies, including Eudora.
Eudora will focus on eye diseases, initially Stargardt disease, retinitis pigmentosa and Usher syndrome type 1B. At its disposal is Relay’s herpes simplex viral vector, which was developed at the University of Pittsburgh by Joe Glorioso, a professor there who has spent decades researching the herpes simplex virus, or HSV.
Replay, and now Eudora, envision the HSV viral vector as an alternative to the adeno-associated virus, or AAV, that’s typically used in gene therapy. While AAV vectors are limited in how much genetic material they can carry, Replay claims its HSV platform can deliver “eight times” the genetic payload of AAV vectors.
Replay said it is developing another HSV vector that could deliver up to 30 times the payload that AAV vectors can.
Three other, as-yet-unnamed Replay companies will use the HSV vector to develop treatments for monogenic diseases of the brain, skin, and muscle, Replay said. The company is also working on induced pluripotent stem cells and new ways to “write” synthetic genes and “rewrite” proteins.
Along with Glorioso, Eudora was co-founded by Mark Blumenkranz, Vinit Mahajan and David Schaffer. Glorioso, Blumenkranz and Schaffer have each previously founded publicly traded biotech companies, helping establish Oncorus, Adverum Biotechnologies and 4D Molecular Therapies, respectively.
Adverum is also developing gene therapies for diseases of the eye.