The Retinal Degeneration Fund (RD Fund) has announced an equity investment in Perceive Biotherapeutics (Perceive Bio), a San Diego-based biotech developer of gene therapy treatments for vision-related diseases.

The investment by RD Fund—established in 2018 as the venture arm of the Columbia, Maryland-based Foundation Fighting Blindness—is part of a larger $78 million private equity financing round that will enable Perceive Bio to accelerate its research toward preventions, treatments, and cures for retinal degenerative diseases including dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD) and its advanced form, geographic atrophy. AMD is the leading cause of blindness in people 55 years and older, affecting more than 150 million people worldwide and 10 million people in the United States.

The Series B financing was led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation (JJI), Deerfield Management, Braidwell LP, and Catalio Capital Management LP. Perceive Bio is part of JLABS @ San Diego, a division of JJI’s global life science incubator network.

“We are very encouraged by Perceive Bio’s innovative strategies that include a rigorous genetic basis for addressing dry AMD and geographic atrophy,” said RD Fund managing director Rusty Kelley. “The company’s well-supported hypotheses, coupled with top-tier investors, visionary leadership, and outstanding retinal disease and therapeutic development experience, create a strong investment thesis—one that we believe is well poised to return clinically and financially.”

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