# Beacon Therapeutics

> Beacon Therapeutics is a clinical-stage ophthalmic gene therapy company building AAV-based treatments to preserve and restore sight for people with rare and prevalent retinal diseases that cause blindness. Formed in 2023 by Syncona around the assets of Applied Genetic Technologies Corp (AGTC) and complementary science from the University of Oxford, its lead program, laru-zova (AGTC-501), is a one-time gene therapy for X-linked retinitis pigmentosa now in registrational trials, with additional programs targeting geographic atrophy (dry AMD) and cone-rod dystrophy.

- **Founded:** 2023
- **Headquarters:** London, United Kingdom / Alachua, Florida, USA
- **Founders:** Syncona Limited (Founding investor / company builder), David Fellows (Founding CEO)
- **Team size:** ~92 employees
- **Products:** Laru-zova (laruparetigene zovaparvovec / AGTC-501), Geographic Atrophy (dry AMD) program, Cone-Rod Dystrophy (CRD) program, Undisclosed retinal program
- **Notable:** Assembled a full ocular gene therapy pipeline (XLRP, dry AMD, cone-rod dystrophy, plus an undisclosed asset) within roughly two years of launch, Raised over $500M in total private funding across launch, Series B and Series C rounds, Advanced laru-zova (AGTC-501) into the registrational Phase 2/3 VISTA trial and completed enrollment in June 2025

## Products & services

- **Laru-zova (laruparetigene zovaparvovec / AGTC-501)** — Lead AAV gene therapy delivering a functional copy of the RPGR gene to the retina to treat X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP); in the registrational Phase 2/3 VISTA trial plus the Phase 2 DAWN and SKYLINE trials.
- **Geographic Atrophy (dry AMD) program** — Preclinical/early gene therapy program targeting geographic atrophy secondary to dry age-related macular degeneration, a large and prevalent cause of vision loss.
- **Cone-Rod Dystrophy (CRD) program** — Gene therapy program for inherited cone-rod dystrophy, in-licensed from the University of Oxford.
- **Undisclosed retinal program** — A fourth, undisclosed pipeline asset within the ocular gene therapy platform.

## Achievements

- Assembled a full ocular gene therapy pipeline (XLRP, dry AMD, cone-rod dystrophy, plus an undisclosed asset) within roughly two years of launch
- Raised over $500M in total private funding across launch, Series B and Series C rounds
- Advanced laru-zova (AGTC-501) into the registrational Phase 2/3 VISTA trial and completed enrollment in June 2025
- Reported positive 12-month DAWN trial safety and efficacy data at ARVO 2026, with sustained visual-function improvements
- Attracted blue-chip backing from Life Sciences at Goldman Sachs Alternatives in an oversubscribed 2026 Series C

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — Positive 12-month safety and efficacy update from the Phase 2 DAWN trial of laru-zova presented at the ARVO 2026 Annual Meeting, showing sustained improvements in visual function.
- **2026-01** — Closed an oversubscribed Series C financing of over $75 million led by Life Sciences at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with new investor the Retinal Degeneration Fund.
- **2025-09** — Reported positive interim 9+ month DAWN results and 36-month Phase 2 SKYLINE data for laru-zova at EURETINA 2025.
- **2025-06** — Completed enrollment in the registrational Phase 2/3 VISTA trial of laru-zova for XLRP; topline data expected H2 2026.
- **2024-07** — Raised $170M Series B led by Forbion to advance its ophthalmic gene therapy pipeline.

## Links

- Website: https://www.beacontx.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beacon-therapeutics
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/AGTC_
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeaconTx/

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/beacon-therapeutics
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-22