Week in review: Prosthetic packages, cannabis coating, CRISPR milestone

A weekly roundup of ophthalmic news from around the web.

Miniature telescope implants are being packaged and shipped to Veteran’s Affairs clinics, military hospitals and federal healthcare facilities across the country. Developed by VisionCare and made available through the CentraSight treatment program, the pea-sized prosthetics (shown above) magnify and project images onto healthy areas of the central retina while dodging the blind spot. The deliveries are intended for older patients with end-stage AMD. Business Wire

A new hydrogel can coat the cornea with cannabinoids and may someday be used to treat glaucoma and AMD. The gel contains temperature-sensitive nanoparticles designed to infuse the eye with cannabigerolic acid (or any fat-soluble drug) while the patient sleeps. The formulation works well in pig corneas but researchers say there’s much to do before the product supplants injected medications in human patients. Drug Delivery and Translational Research

Aerie has submitted a new drug application to the FDA for Roclatan, its once-daily IOP-lowering eye drop. Roclatan is a fixed-dose combination of 2 previously approved drugs—netarsudil and latanoprost—which should shorten the regulatory review process from 12 months to 10. Aerie Pharmaceuticals

Researchers have unleashed a nimble new version of the gene-editing tool CRISPR on mice with retinitis pigmentosa. A team from Columbia University used an “ablate-and-replace” strategy to destroy both copies of the rhodopsin gene—regardless of mutation status—and swap in healthy versions, restoring retinal function. Targeting both gene copies with high efficiency (rather than singling out defective genes) opens the door to treating dominant genetic disorders. The new approach can also be used with non-dividing cells such as those in the eye, brain or heart. Academy press release

Five Chinese doctors and 3 nurses are visiting the Windhoek Central Hospital in Nambia, a nation with only 6 active ophthalmologists. Over the next week, the team say they hope to serve long lines of people with cataracts and perform more than 200 surgeries. XinhuaNet