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Avista Therapeutics
Biotechnology Research
Pittsburgh, PA 1,421 followers
Developing innovative gene therapies for retinal diseases that have a profound impact on patients' quality of life.
About us
Avista's mission is to develop innovative gene therapies for retinal diseases, including rare, inherited conditions that have a profound impact on patients' quality of life. We leverage our computationally guided scAAVengr platform to generate and validate a toolkit of proprietary AAV vectors that overcome the most significant obstacles to effective gene therapies, including cell-type specific delivery, reduced dosages, and efficient expression, using a minimally invasive intravitreal approach. Our quantitative, in vivo-based approach and clinical ophthalmology expertise allow us to rapidly translate new gene therapies to the clinic. Avista is a UPMC Enterprises portfolio company founded based on the research of Drs. Leah Byrne, Jose Sahel, and Paul Sieving.
- Website
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http://www.avistatx.com
External link for Avista Therapeutics
- Industry
- Biotechnology Research
- Company size
- 2-10 employees
- Headquarters
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Type
- Privately Held
- Founded
- 2021
Locations
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Primary
Pittsburgh, PA, US
Employees at Avista Therapeutics
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Rob Lin, PhD, CFA
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Daniel McCoy
Vice President - Preclinical Programs (Gene Therapy)
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Jane Opgaard
VP Operations Avista Therapeutics
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Laura Campello
Senior Scientist at Avista Therapeutics | Inherited Retinal Diseases | NOVA Top Talent | Distinguished Alumni Ambassador University of Alicante
Updates
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The traditional approach to evaluating AAVs is slow and imprecise, often taking years and necessitating several studies to identify promising candidates for delivering gene therapy. In contrast, scAAVengr offers a more rapid and precise method for evaluating AAVs as it directly measures the efficacy of AAV vectors in both cell entry and gene cargo expression. Avista is also utilizing intravitreal injections to broaden gene therapy accessibility beyond sub-retinal delivery, which requires invasive surgery of the retina. The Company’s novel AAVs have the potential to be administered in-office at lower doses, delivering the same or improved results as the current surgical procedure. Learn more about our process: avistatx.com
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MEET OUR TEAM: Jeanne Cunicelli, MBA, from our Board of Directors Jeanne Cunicelli, a veteran venture capitalist in the life sciences industry, became president of UPMC Enterprises in January 2021. Cunicelli was a managing director at Bay City Capital in San Francisco before joining UPMC in 2017 to lead UPMC Enterprises’ Translational Sciences focus area. As president of UPMC Enterprises, Cunicelli is leading UPMC’s efforts to commercialize its managerial and health care expertise. With a focus on improving the quality, efficiency and patient experience at UPMC, the division and its partners will then take those solutions to the broader health care market through its two focus areas, Translational Sciences and Digital Solutions. Under Cunicelli’s leadership, the Translational Sciences team has grown to more than 20 scientific and investment professionals working to accelerate the transfer of scientific discoveries into life-changing medicines, diagnostics and devices. Based on ground-breaking research from the University of Pittsburgh and other global innovators, the team will deploy $1 billion in life sciences investments by 2024. Through its Digital Solutions group, UPMC Enterprises has started and invested in a portfolio of companies that leverages UPMC’s scale and health care insights to provide clinicians, payers and consumers with engaging technology that improves the quality and cost effectiveness of health care. Cunicelli is a member of the Board of Trustees of Carnegie Mellon University. She received an M.B.A. from the University of San Francisco and a bachelor’s degree in cognitive psychology from Carnegie Mellon University. Learn more about our team: avistatx.com
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The eye is an incredibly complex organ. At Avista, we have some of the best scientists working today. Despite progress in gene therapy, ensuring that viral vectors effectively deliver therapeutic genes to the targeted cells in the retina remains a key obstacle. To address this challenge, the in-vivo scAAVengr computational platform utilizes single-cell RNA sequencing to identify various AAV vectors, rapidly and quantitatively, for their suitability in delivering gene therapy to specific parts of the retina. See more about our work: avistatx.com
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Low vision can make it hard to do everyday activities. It can’t be fixed with standard methods like glasses, contact lenses, medicine, or surgery. You may have low vision if you can’t see well enough to do things like read, drive, recognize peoples faces, tell colors apart, and see your television or computer screen clearly. The types of low vision you have depends on the disease or condition that caused your low vision. The most common types of low vision are: - Central vision loss (not being able to see things in the center of your vision) - Peripheral vision loss (not being able to see things out of the corners of your eyes) - Night blindness (not being able to see in low light) - Blurry or hazy vision Learn about our work at avistatx.com