Barbara Wirostko

Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer @Qlaris Bio, Inc

Qlaris Bio was founded with a singular focus: to develop novel, innovative therapies for serious and debilitating ophthalmic diseases. Qlaris Bio is a spinout company of Qrativ, a biotechnology incubator formed as a joint venture between Mayo Clinic and nference, a pharmaceutical-focused artificial intelligence company. Qlaris Bio\'s lead program is QLS-101, a novel compound invented at Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota. With QLS-101, we are targeting a component of Intraocular Pressure (IOP), Episcleral Venous Pressure (EVP) and outflow distal to the Trabecular Meshwork that remain wholly unaddressed today. QLS-101 may be able to uniquely address diseases of pathologic EVP and also provide new paradigms of treatment for diseases where EVP sets the floor to maximal IOP lowering currently. This includes Sturge-weber Syndrome, a Pediatric Rare Disease, and Normal Tension Glaucoma.