by Dr. Gearóid Tuohy
Dear EURETINA Members,
A very warm and New Year welcome to the January 6th, 2016 edition of EURETINA’s web-based digital magazine, “EURETINA Brief”. EURETINA are delighted to continue our delivery of up to date summary briefs on a range of topics of interest to retinal specialists and researchers across Europe. This resource is designed to accommodate the very busy schedules of all our members by providing them with a short overview of some new developments and announcements in our field over recent weeks.
As in previous issues we have incorporated a feedback section where you can comment on any of the news items or articles under discussion and we very much welcome all contributions. Previous articles and issues can be found in the archive section on this website.
The current issue highlights a number of research activities, clinical milestones and business developments in our field, including research conducted by the International AMD Genomics Consortium (IAMDGC) reporting an almost doubling in the number of genetic risk loci associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD); results from a Phase III study evaluating the safety and efficacy of an injectable fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal insert (FAI, “Medidur”), for the treatment of non-infectious uveitis, and; an announcement from Bayer AG and CRISPR Therapeutics AG on the creation of a 50/50 joint venture “to discover, develop and commercialize new breakthrough therapeutics” focused on developing cures for blindness, blood disorders and congenital heart disease.
Finally, our feature bio-ophthalmology article reports on Science Magazine’s “Breakthrough of the Year for 2015”: CRISPR-Cas 9 gene editing technology. The recently developed technology is currently generating significant interest in the biomedical community, not least of all due to its low cost, its incredible ease of use and its versatility across a broad range of applications (see Bayer-CRISPR Therapeutics joint venture announcement in this issue). Referred to as “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats” or “CRISPR/Cas9”, the technology has emerged from research into prokaryotic immune defence systems. The technology has recently been shown to correct congenital cataract in mammalian models, with many additional ophthalmic applications in the pipeline. Remarkably, this very ancient bacterial technology is being rapidly applied to several areas of 21st century medicine and biotechnology. The impact is additionally been felt beyond university walls with >$150M of venture capital invested to date in 4 start-up companies alone. Such rapid commercial interest in a technology with 10+ years to go to reach market is a clear indicator of the size of CRISPR’s medical potential.
As always, increased interaction by you with the EURETINA web community serves to expand your professional network and keep you up to date with the latest initiatives, activities and research in your field. Our hope is that such cross-fertilisation in an active web-based platform will lead to increased collaborative opportunities and ultimately to improved patient care. All readers are invited to submit comments or responses to any of the stories featured and we look forward to hearing from you over the coming month.
Best wishes,
Dr. Gearóid Tuohy, EURETINA