CI Scientists Commentary:

• Limitations with current drug delivery approaches for retinal diseases:
  • Intravitreal injections, Viral vector gene therapy require invasive subretinal surgery
  • Ocular implants can result in corticosteroid-related ocular side effects
  • Systemic treatments have poor ocular bioavailability, require constant lab monitoring resulting in poor compliance, and can have significant side effects
• Eyevensys using its innovative drug delivery platform intends to develop non-viral gene therapies to overcome limitations by inducing sustained intraocular production of therapeutic proteins—reducing the treatment compliance burden while increasing the potential for improved patient outcomes
• EYS809: This non-viral gene therapy encodes an anti-angiogenic protein that targets vascular leakage and fibrosis intended to reduce the need for repeated injections and improve outcomes in cases often result in vision loss despite anti-VEGF therapy
  • Repeated intra-ocular injections are required with existing anti-VEGF therapies for the treatment of wet AMD
  • But, if not administered regularly (monthly or bimonthly), the treatment benefit will be lost and repeated intravitreal injections in elderly patients may lead to poor patient compliance
  • Currently there is a need for longer-lasting therapies with less frequent dosing
• EYS611 combines plasmids (or genes) for human transferrin delivered to the ciliary muscle is a less invasive gene therapy approach than viral vector gene therapies
  • It is intended for the treatment of the entire retina in all retinitis pigmentosa subtypes, independent of the underlying genetic mutation