Aura Biosciences, Inc. AURA

We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing precision therapies to treat solid tumors designed to preserve organ function. Our lead candidate bel-sar is in late-stage clinical development for the treatment of patients with early choroidal melanoma (defined as small choroidal melanoma and/or indeterminate lesions) and is also in clinical development for other ocular oncology indications and bladder cancer.

There is significant unmet need for novel treatments for patients with choroidal melanoma, given the limitations of the current standard of care, or SoC, and patient reluctance to undergo radiotherapy in the form of either plaque brachytherapy or proton beam therapy, both highly-invasive therapies that result in significant vision loss, and potential legal blindness in the treated eye. Enucleation, or surgical removal of the affected eye, is another treatment option for patients with choroidal melanoma, in which patients lose all vision without the possibility of vision restoration. We are evaluating the safety and efficacy of bel-sar as a potential vision-sparing therapy in our ongoing global Phase 3 CoMpass trial for the first-line treatment of adult patients with early choroidal melanoma. Moreover, we intend to assess the safety and efficacy of bel-sar in treating a range of other solid tumors, beginning with metastases to the choroid and bladder cancer where bel-sar is in clinical development, as well as in cancers of the ocular surface. We believe bel-sar, if approved, has the potential to change the current treatment paradigm for patients with ocular and urologic cancers and other solid tumors.