Rabia Ozden

Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc. discovers and develops novel RNAi-based therapeutics. The firm’s products include QPI-1002 and QPI-1007 is being developed as a neuroprotective agent for the treatment of optic neuropathies that result in the death of retinal ganglion cells. The company was founded by Daniel Zurr, David M. Fineman and J. Gregory Swendsen in December 1993 and is headquartered in Fremont, CA.

Applied Genetic Technologies Corp. is a clinical stage biotechnology company, which engages in the usage of a gene therapy platform to develop transformational genetic therapies for patients suffering from rare and debilitating diseases. The firm also focuses on conducting clinical trials in the field of ophthalmology, optogenetics, adrenoleukodystrophy, and otology. The company was founded by Richard Jude Samulski, Nicholas Muzyczka, William W. Hauswirth, Terence R. Flotte, and Barry J. Byrne on January 19, 1999 and is headquartered in Alachua, FL.

Nightstar Therapeutics Ltd. is a clinical-stage gene therapy. It engages in the development and commercialization of novel one-time treatments for patients suffering from rare inherited retinal diseases. The company was founded by Robert MacLaren, Miguel Seabra and Matthew During in 2014 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Akouos, Inc. is a precision genetic medicine company, which engages in the development of precision genetic medicines to restore and preserve hearing in genetically-defined patient populations. The firm's lead product candidate, AK-OTOF, is a gene therapy for the treatment of hearing loss due to mutations in the OTOF gene. It develops targeted adeno-associated viral vector based gene therapies for sensorineural hearing loss, which results from dysfunction or damage to sensory cells and nerve fibers of the inner ear. The company was founded by Emmanuel J. Simons, William F. Sewell, Richard H. Smith, Luk H. Vandenberghe, and Michael J. McKenna on March 7, 2016 and is headquartered in Boston, MA.