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Overview
Ikarovec is developing a dual-pathway gene therapy platform that builds on validated therapeutic approaches and adds synergistic second mechanisms.
This strategy reduces development risk compared to completely novel approaches, while addressing what current single-pathway therapies miss.
Ikarovec’s lead asset, IKAR-001, is a bifunctional AAV8-based gene therapy for geographic atrophy (GA), that adds neuroprotection to complement modulation . The company is advancing IKAR-001 into Phase I/IIa clinical trials for GA, a leading cause of irreversible blindness affecting over 5 million patients worldwide. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that IKAR-001 preserves retinal structure and visual function.
Beyond IKAR-001, Ikarovec is building a pipeline platform with IKAR-002 for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), targeting both angiogenesis and fibrosis, and IKAR-003 for intermediate AMD, designed to prevent progression to advanced disease forms.
Ikarovec is led by an experienced management team and board with deep expertise in drug development, gene therapy, and retinal therapeutics.
It is guided by a Scientific Advisory Board of world-leading retinal research scientists, gene therapy experts, and clinical care specialists from the US, UK, Australia, and Israel.
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News
The latest from Ikarovec
Press Release
Ikarovec to Advance Pipeline with Exclusive Worldwide Option to VectorBuilder’s Intravitreal Capsid Technology
Novel capsid technology to enable convenient delivery in the doctor’s office of IKAR-003 for intermediate AMD, designed to prevent progression …
6th January 2026
News
FDA Provides Positive Feedback on IKAR-001 Development Plan
Ikarovec s advancing IKAR-001 with regulatory guidance supporting dual-pathway gene therapy approach Norwich, UK – [Date] – Ikarovec Limited today …
27th October 2025
News
Ikarovec Advances Series A Fundraising with Strong Momentum
Company releases updated corporate deck highlighting preclinical superiority, regulatory progress, and compelling investment opportunity Norwich, UK – 22/10/2025 – Ikarovec …
22nd October 2025
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Investor Events
Where to meet us
Conference
Meet us at EURetina
Vienna, Austria
October 1 – 4th, 2026
Conference
The Ikarovec team will be attending ESGCT
Hamburg, Germany
October 27 – 30th, 2026
Past Events
Ikarovec is backed by world class investors
Our investors share our vision of transforming the treatment of major eye diseases through pioneering gene therapies.
Reach out to learn more
Parkwalk is a leading investor in ‘hard science’ companies: commercialising the scientific discoveries made at the UK’s globally-ranked research universities. Parkwalk is the UK’s most active investor in the university spinout sector, and currently has over £500m of assets under management. We have invested in over 200 companies across our managed funds, including funds managed in conjunction with the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial and Bristol. In 2017 Parkwalk joined forces with IP Group plc, a FTSE 250 listed company.
UKI2S is a national seed investment fund that nurtures innovative businesses to leverage private investment and create jobs, recycling profits from successful investments into the next generation of impactful UK companies. The fund invests in innovations emerging from the UK’s publicly funded science and knowledge base, with a focus on engineering, biology, defence, security, and fusion energy. Through these sectors, UKI2S supports sustainable growth, enhances societal health and security, improves productivity, and drives economic returns from the UK’s public funding portfolio.
Investment decisions are guided by both the potential societal impact of technologies and their financial return. Over the years, UKI2S has built a strong track record, with portfolio companies collectively attracting over £800 million in later-stage investment—equivalent to 30 times the Fund’s original investment.
Backed by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Ministry of Defence (MOD), the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), and other public bodies, UKI2S is independently managed by Future Planet Capital (Ventures) Ltd, an impact-led global venture capital firm.
LifeArc Ventures is part of LifeArc, a self-financing medical research charity, with the ambition to transform the way diseases are identified and treated.
LifeArc Ventures typically invest in Seed and Series A investment rounds, with significant follow-on investment reserved for successful portfolio companies. Drawing on LifeArc’s core strengths, we offer our portfolio companies venture funding, scientific support through our scientists and labs in Stevenage, and help with progressing their translational science.Through our network of industry contacts, we can help to build boards and lead or co-invest in investor syndicates.
