Cirrus Therapeutics Raises $11 Million to Advance First-in-Class Ocular Gene Therapy Targeting Dry AMD

Cirrus Therapeutics announced the close of an $11 million seed financing round to advance its gene and cell therapy pipeline. 

The company will use the funds to progress its lead program into IND-enabling studies. This program is built around a novel adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene therapy designed to restore levels of IRAK-M, a recently validated regulator of retinal immune balance that declines with age and in patients with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

While current dry AMD therapies primarily target the complement cascade, they have not demonstrated consistent functional improvements in patients. Cirrus’ approach is distinctive: replenishing IRAK-M expression directly addresses the aging-driven, multi-pathway degeneration that fuels AMD.

“Replenishing IRAK-M expression offers an exciting opportunity to target an underlying driver of retinal degeneration–aging itself–thwarting the multi-pathway activity that leads to AMD and preventing or reversing vision loss,” said Professor Andrew Dick, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Advisor of Cirrus, and Head of Ophthalmology at the University of Bristol and University College London.

In June 2024, Cirrus and collaborators from the University of Bristol and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology published findings in Science Translational Medicine establishing IRAK-M as a critical immune regulator in the retina. Expressed in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells, IRAK-M protects against chronic inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidative stress—factors central to AMD onset. Preclinical models showed that restoring IRAK-M to normal levels significantly preserved retinal structure and function, highlighting its therapeutic potential.

The financing was led by ClavystBio, a life sciences investment firm, with support from Polaris Partners and SEEDS.

“By pairing the disease-modifying IRAK-M target with a modality that would enable a one-time treatment, we aim to protect and preserve vision," SAID Cirrus CEO Ying Kai Chan, PhD, emphasized the goal of providing a one-time, durable gene therapy for AMD patients. "This represents not only a major medical advance for a highly prevalent blinding disease, but also a paradigm shift in the application of gene therapy beyond rare genetic conditions.”