Descripción del proyecto
Terapias innovadoras para frenar la ceguera corneal
Se calcula que en el mundo existen 2 200 millones de personas con deficiencia visual, de las cuales más de 30 millones viven en Europa. Muchas de ellas padecen ceguera corneal, que es la segunda causa más frecuente de ceguera. La falta de acceso a tejidos de donantes, la ausencia de tratamientos normalizados y el retraso en la aplicación clínica de tratamientos regenerativos innovadores impiden que estas personas reciban la atención que necesitan. En el proyecto ARREST BLINDNESS, financiado con fondos europeos, se abordará el problema de la ceguera corneal utilizando estructuras de soporte de bioingeniería, células madre y endoteliales terapéuticas y factores regenerativos para favorecer el crecimiento y la función neuronales. Además, se desarrollarán métodos avanzados de obtención de imágenes y seguimiento.
Objetivo
Over 30 million Europeans are blind or visually impaired, leading to reduced quality of life and a tremendous loss of productivity in society. Corneal blindness is the second largest cause of blindness globally and while treatable, millions remain unnecessarily blind due to issues of access to transplantable tissue, lack of standardized treatments, and the lag in translating new regenerative medicine therapies to the clinic. The objective of ARREST BLINDNESS is therefore to develop and validate new regenerative-based therapies addressing a spectrum of blinding disorders of the cornea. These conditions either have no effective current treatments, depend on a scarce supply of donor tissue, or non-standardized methods are hindering validation of promising regenerative treatments. To achieve our objective, we will implant GMP-fabricated collagen-based bioengineered scaffolds to replace or regenerate the corneal stroma in cases of stromal thinning, scarring, dystrophy or trauma; deliver therapeutic epithelial stem and endothelial cells to the cornea to restore its transparency; deliver regenerative factors to promote neural growth and function; and actively maintain corneal immune privilege in high-risk situations by targeted therapeutic approaches to regress blood and lymphatic vessels. We will additionally develop advanced methods to image and monitor therapy throughout the cycle from GMP-compliant cell and scaffold preparation through the pre- and intra-operative stages, to postoperative follow-up and evaluation. After proof-of-concept and preclinical validation of key enabling components, these technologies will be used by one or several partners in preclinical models and in phase I/II human clinical studies. ARREST BLINDNESS directly addresses the translation of regenerative medicine, bio-artificial organs, tissue engineered scaffolds, and advanced cell and gene therapies into clinical use and will help to alleviate the worldwide problem of corneal blindness.
Ámbito científico
- medical and health sciencesmedical biotechnologygenetic engineeringgene therapy
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugs
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineophthalmology
- medical and health sciencesmedical biotechnologycells technologiesstem cells
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicinetransplantation
Programa(s)
Convocatoria de propuestas
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoriaConvocatoria de subcontratación
H2020-PHC-2015-two-stage
Régimen de financiación
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinador
581 83 Linkoping
Suecia