Hong Kong biotech start-up Alephoson eyes international trial for eye-drug delivery

Hong Kong biotech start-up works with university partners to conduct global clinical trials studying prevalent eye diseases

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Benjamin Lee, a founder and CEO of Alephoson. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 9:30am, 10 Feb 2025

A Hong Kong biotech start-up is working with a number of university partners to conduct global clinical trials that could lead to a better way of delivering drugs for prevalent eye diseases.

Alephoson Biopharmaceuticals, established in 2019, has developed a technology to combine a proprietary cell-penetration peptide (CPP) compound with biologic medication that is currently used to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetes-related macular edema (DME).

If planned clinical trials are successful, this could result in the commercialisation of a medication that can be administered via eyedrops instead of an injection into the cavity at the back of the eye, according to Benjamin Lee, a founder and CEO of Alephoson, which is based in the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park.

“As a research-and-development-focused company, we are forging partnerships with university hospitals in Hong Kong, mainland China, Asia and the United States on our planned clinical trials,” Lee said.

“Upon completion of a preclinical toxicity study in around 12 months, our target is to request authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration to conduct Phase 1 and 2a investigational drug trials by the first quarter of next year.”

The idea of using CPP as a drug delivery system originated from Professor Wei Gang, an Alephoson co-founder, who is deputy director of the Department of Pharmaceutics at Shanghai’s Fudan University.