The main causes of vision-loss in the developed world are age-related macular degeneration (‘AMD’) and diabetic retinopathy (‘DR’). These conditions affect approximately 30 million people in the US and Europe and the market potential is in excess of $1.0 billion. In both AMD and DR, blindness is caused by the defective formation of new blood vessels in the retina. In AMD, new blood vessels extend from the inner retina beyond the inner limiting membrane, which leads to haemorrhaging and distortion of the specific area of the retinal surface responsible for sharp, central vision. In DR, a similar process occurs however, the new blood vessels appear on the vitreous surface of the retina causing excessive accumulation of fluid or ‘oedema’, which blurs vision and causes retinal haemorrhage.

RetinoStat is designed to halt this aberrant growth of blood vessels and prevent it recurring. The current treatments for AMD and DR tend only to slow the diseases’ progression. RetinoStat comprises a LentiVector gene delivery system expressing an angiostatic gene under the control of Oxford BioMedica’s Hypoxia Response Element, which promotes gene expression under low oxygen conditions. The Company has an exclusive licence to use EntreMed’s proprietary angiostatic proteins, endostatin and angiostatin, for the treatment of ocular diseases via localised gene delivery. Endostatin and angiostatin both target multiple stages of the angiogenesis process, specifically targeting aberrant blood vessels, leaving normal vessels unaffected.

The Foundation Fighting Blindness (www.blindness.org) is the largest non-governmental source of funding for retinal degenerative disease research in the world. The Foundation funds more than 150 research projects at more than 55 prominent institutions around the world. With an “A” rating, The Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) is ranked as a “Top-Rated” charity by the American Institute of Philanthropy.

Named after William Holland Wilmer, MD, who in 1925 left his Washington, DC, practice to establish a comprehensive eye center at Johns Hopkins, the Wilmer Eye Institute is home to faculty who are credited with the development of one of the original argon lasers used to halt vision loss caused by diabetes, age-related macular degeneration and other diseases; showing that blindness in premature infants could be prevented by reducing excess oxygen in incubators; perfecting extended-wear contact lenses and pioneering the specialty of neuro-ophthalmology as well as establishing the country's first centers for genetic eye disease and preventive ophthalmology. Wilmer has been ranked as the country's #1 eye department by US News & World Report and Ophthalmology Times magazines, and has the highest level of funding from the National Eye Institute of any ophthalmology department in the US.