As Roche’s reported interest in buying rare-disease specialist Alexion faded, new suitors popped up for oncology specialist Onyx. Plus news on deals between Spectrum and Talon, Pfizer and Sequella, Medtronic and Amgen, and a new direction for Rexahn.

Demographic shifts leading to an increasing market, unmet medical need and potential interest from Big Pharma buyers are all compelling reasons for VCs to examine closely the opportunity in glaucoma. Add in the fact that because clinical trials are relatively straightforward and quick, it's possible to keep costs manageable, and one might expect venture capitalists to be rushing to form biotech start-ups in the glaucoma arena, especially since there's been no new mechanism of action in glaucoma in a long time. But the hurdle giving venture investors pause is the wholesale restructuring that will come to the glaucoma market next March, when a key patent for Xalatan expires.

At its inception, Altheos licensed a series of selective Rho-kinase inhibitors for glaucoma from Asahi Kasei Pharma, and it plans to move the lead candidate into clinical trials in the coming year. Although the start-up is behind several companies that already have ongoing ROCK inhibitor trials, Altheos believes its approach to drug discovery and medicinal chemistry make its therapeutic likely to prove itself the best among the new class of medicines for staving off vision loss from glaucoma.