Based in Seattle, Boston and Tokyo, Aurion Biotech is a clinical-stage biotech company. Our mission is to restore vision to millions of patients with our life-changing regenerative therapies. Our first product candidate is for the treatment of corneal edema secondary to endothelial dysfunction, and is one of the first clinically validated cell therapies for corneal care. Healthy cells from a donor cornea are cultured in a novel, multi-step, proprietary and patented process. Cells manufactured from a single donor can treat more than 100 recipient eyes.
About Corneal Endothelial Diseases
Corneal edema secondary to endothelial dysfunction is a sight-threatening and debilitating condition affecting millions of people throughout the world. When corneal endothelial cells die or degrade, they do not regenerate. Ultimately, corneal endothelial cell loss can cause corneal edema and loss of vision. Although corneal transplants are effective, there are disadvantages with these procedures (DMEK/DSAEK):
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Limited donor organ supply. Transplants require a supply of donor corneas in a 1:1 ratio (one healthy donor cornea to treat each diseased one), yet it’s estimated that there is only one donor cornea available for every 70 diseased eyes.
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Complex surgical procedure. Although there are approximately 20,000 ophthalmologists in the USand approximately 1,500 corneal specialists, the Company estimates that fewer than 300 actively perform the DMEK/DSAEK procedures.
Clinical studies treating over 100 patients in Japan and El Salvador support the significant potential advantages of Aurion Biotech’s cell therapy for treating patients with corneal edema secondary to endothelial dysfunction:
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Abundant supply of corneal endothelial cells. From a single donor, the Company can manufacture corneal endothelial cells to treat up to 100 recipient eyes.
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Straightforward procedure to perform. As a simple injection, the cell therapy procedure can be performed efficiently and is less complex than corneal transplantation.
- Patient-friendly procedure. Post-operative recovery for cell therapy is several hours, as compared to several days for corneal transplant procedures.
The Aurion Biotech team is preparing for clinical trials in the U.S. To learn more about Aurion Biotech, visit www.aurionbiotech.com