New partnership pursues optogenetic therapy to restore sight

Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation (AGTC) will combine its gene therapy expertise with Bionic Sight's innovative neuro-prosthetic device to potentially restore retinal function in patients blinded by photoreceptor degeneration.

The companies yesterday announced the strategic research and development collaboration, which would use AGTC’s proprietary gene delivery technology to support Bionic Sight's clinical development program.

AGTC’s adeno-associated virus gene therapy will be used to induce remaining healthy retinal cells to express a light-sensitive protein. When activated, retinal cells will relay visual information to nearby ganglion cells and thus the brain. The Bionic sight device stimulates this protein by converting incoming images in its camera into a series of signals that are delivered to the transduced cells.

According to AGTC, the coded signals cause the cells to fire in the specific patterns needed to recreate the images in the brain.

"Bionic Sight has demonstrated an ability to mimic normal image formation in preclinical studies and we believe there is a potential to achieve an outcome for patients that greatly exceeds what is currently possible with prosthetic or gene therapy approaches in late stage degenerative retinal diseases," said Sue Washer, president and CEO of AGTC. 

AGTC is also developing gene therapy-based treatments for X-linked retinoschisis, X-linked retinitis pigmentosa, achromatopsia, wet AMD and blue cone monochromacy.