Currently, ophthalmology is one of the medical specialties that is benefiting most from the genetic approach to clinical practice.with the emergence of new and improved treatments, many in the latest stages of research. “The goal is to be able to improve the vision of people with chronic or hereditary pathologies who, without tailored and appropriate therapy, irretrievably lose their sight”explains Dr. Rafael Navarro, Medical Director and retina expert at IMO Miranza Barcelona Group. Likewise, the ophthalmologist explains that “in our clinic, we started to bet on translational medicine more than a decade ago, with our own molecular biology and genetics laboratory located at IMO Grupo Miranza Barcelona. and from which we carry out ambitious projects with gene and cell therapies for hereditary diseases.. For the time being, these are ongoing but very promising research projects and we hope to see their results translated into clinical practice in the near future”.
New generation of treatments for AMD
Precisely, one of the diseases for which most advances are being made is AMD. age-related macular degeneration (AMD).which usually appears after the age of 60 years and is nowadays the leading cause of legal blindness in industrialized countries. In recent years, new drugs have been developed, called antiangiogenicswhich are injected into the eye periodically and are able to slow down and, almost always, improve the vision of people suffering from one of the two types of the disease: the wet AMD. However, according to Dr. Navarro, “one of the great barriers we encountered is that the other type of AMD, the dry form, lacks treatment, sentencing the sufferer to a gradual and inevitable loss of vision”.
Fortunately, in the coming months, we will witness the arrival of. new treatments for dry AMD which, at the present time, are on the late stages of clinical trials or about to go to market.. “At IMO Miranza Group, we have already applied gene therapies, within the framework of a multicenter trial. We hope they will help slow the progression of the disease and begin to be marketed soon”, explains Dr. Navarro. As for the therapy, it is applied during surgery under the central part of the retina, the macula, and a vector deposits therapeutic genes that modify the progression of dry AMD”.
One of the diseases for which most advances are being made is age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of legal blindness in industrialized countries.
In parallel, it is also anticipated that the advent of a new generation of injectable drugs which, just as they have so far successfully treated wet AMD, will be able to slow down the progression of dry AMD. This is undoubtedly a major advance, since “until now, we could only prescribe antioxidant supplements to our patients with dry AMD, to help them slow down the progression of the condition”, warns the expert.
Another breakthrough that will be available in the very near future will be a millimeter device to be inserted into the eye of the patient with wet AMD.. “This is another project in which we are involved and which consists of surgically implanting a reservoir in the eye, with the aim of releasing an antiangiogenic drug constantly, throughout the months”, announces the ophthalmologist. The main advantage of this therapy is that will reduce the number of intraocular injections. that the patient undergoes each year. And, “when the reservoir is empty, we will be able to refill it again with the drug in the office itself, for the patient’s convenience,” he adds.
This new generation of treatments has been, in part, made possible thanks to the networking of researchers and ophthalmologists.. “Undoubtedly, this trend will become more and more frequent and will allow us to individualize the therapies we offer our patients so that these, in turn, will be more effective and less aggressive for them”, concludes Dr. Navarro.
More information:
IMO Miranza Group
www.imo.es
Tel. 93 400 07 00
Exit 7 – Ronda de Dalt (Barcelona)