Dr May Griffith of the research team inspects a biosynthetic cornea that can be implanted into the eye to repair damage and restore sight
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1306134/Artificial-corneas-restore-sight-partially-blind-patients-grown-lab.html#ixzz0ytTV7HNA
Eyegenix™, the ophthalmic division of Cellular Bioengineering, Inc. (CBI), announced that the results of a pilot clinical trial using a synthetic cornea for which Eyegenix™ holds the exclusive global license for transplantation were published in the peer-reviewed journal, Science Translational Medicine (Volume 2, Issue 46, August, 25, 2010). The publication reported two year results of a clinical trial that transplanted bioengineered corneas into 10 patients who were visually impaired on the transplantation wait list. All patients regained nerve sensation and tear formation without the prolonged use of anti-rejection drugs, and six of the patients improved to best corrected post-operative acuity of 20/40 with contact lenses. As a group, this improvement was comparable to a cohort treated with traditional human allograft transplant.
Eyegenix™ has the exclusive worldwide commercial corneal transplantation rights to this biosynthetic material, which holds the potential promise to cure blindness in the estimated 10 million people who suffer from corneal disease but have no access to a donor for transplant. Invented at the University of Ottawa and the National Research Council of Canada by Drs. May Griffith, David Carlsson and their colleagues, it is under collaborative development by CBI / Eyegenix™, the University of Ottawa Health Research Institute, and Dr. Per Fagerholm from University of Linkoping, Sweden, the surgeon who conducted the transplants and lead author of the publication.
Although corneal transplantation is a successful procedure that is performed more often than all other types of organ transplants combined, it is only able to impact less than 2% of patients with corneal blindness worldwide due to a lack of donors. The material under exclusive license to Eyegenix™ is unique in its approach of replacing a human donor with a completely synthetic, transplantable cornea designed to promote tissue regeneration, which can be an off-the-shelf solution to a huge access problem.
"CBI is extremely proud to be part of this effort," said Mark Mugiishi, M.D., Medical Director of CBI. "Our inventors, scientific and development team members, and clinical champions have emerged from all parts of the world. We have positioned ourselves as forerunners in the race to bring vision back to 10 million blind people in the world, and that's something all of us are incredibly passionate about."
Biosynthetic cornea used for transplantation in a patient with severe keratoconus
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