Note: This story was originally published on the U of U Technology Licensing Office’s website.
According to research, over 200 million individuals worldwide suffer from neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), one of the leading causes of vision loss. Despite the urgent need for treatment, most drug developments still rely on animal models to ensure the safety of humans. Animal models, while imperfect, offer a safer and more controllable environment to investigate potential treatments before transitioning to human trials. However, Jordan Allan, CEO of Eyescreen Inc, highlighted “While some drugs will go through animal models first, 90 % of those fail once human trails begin.”
This high failure rate is contributed to by the incompatibility animal models hold. Not only do these delay effective treatments but also significantly increase development costs. For example, the need for repeated testing, failed trials, and the reallocation of time and resources toward drugs that ultimately don’t succeed in humans.
Why Donated Human Eyes?
Although animal models have been widely used in ocular research, they still show significant drawbacks when compared to human models.
According to Frans Vinberg, Cofounder and Chief Science Officer of Eyescreen, Inc., “Mice don’t really have this central structure macula or fovea that we use for the high acuity color vision.”
In simpler terms, humans have a special region in the center of the retina called the macula, and within it, the fovea. These regions allow us to see in sharp detail and vibrant color, especially when reading or looking at faces. Mice, a major model for preclinical ophthalmic testing, lack this feature entirely since their eyes are designed towards detecting movement and seeing in the dark.
Recognizing this limitation Vinberg proposed, “maybe we should have some better models and specifically study human central vision.”
This idea led to a groundbreaking collaboration with the Utah Lions Eye Bank and Donor Connect, the first to find a method to revive and preserve light responses in the central retina from post-mortem donated human eyes for up to 48 hours, enabling direct drug testing on human retinal tissue.
Click here to read the full story on the Technology Licensing Office’s website.
