Startup eyes cure for the blind

Photo | Contributed Nicole Wagner, CEO of Farmington biotech firm LambdaVision Inc., is developing a unique protein-based artificial retina that aims to restore sight to patients blinded by degenerative diseases.

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By Becky Bergman

An ambitious effort to restore the sight and improve the quality of life for millions of blind people has created a significant business opportunity for a group of students and scientists at the University of Connecticut.

LambdaVision Inc., a biotech start-up launched at Connecticut’s flagship university, has spent the past several years developing a protein-based artificial retina that aims to restore sight to patients blinded by degenerative diseases.

The implant, company officials say, is designed to be less surgically invasive than competing technologies and — unlike most implants on the market — requires no electronic stimulants to generate sight.

The innovative technology has caught the eye of Connecticut Innovations, the state’s quasi-public venture capital arm, which has poured $265,000 into the company so far. Now, LambdaVision is preparing to submit an application with the Food and Drug Administration to begin clinical trials.

Nicole Wagner, CEO of the biotech start-up now housed at UConn Health Center’s Cell and Genome Sciences building in Farmington, said there is currently no cure for the 30 million people who suffer from degenerative eye diseases so the market potential is significant.

“Blindness from retinal degenerative diseases can cause a significant decline in the quality of the life for those affected,” said Wagner. “To date, no cure exists for patients, and there are only a limited number of treatments available. The currently available treatments only slow the progression of the disease and have limited effectiveness.”

LambdaVision has focused its research on age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP), two common diseases that cause photoreceptor cells in the eye to deteriorate over time, Wagner said.

The condition is irreversible and can lead to blindness. LambdaVision’s technology is unique because it contains no electronic components and requires no external power source to work. Instead, proteins incorporated into the implant are activated as light enters the eye, Wagner said, helping a person regain their vision.

The implant is also flexible and requires a less invasive surgery. The 1 millimeter thick implant is placed in a patient’s eye during an outpatient procedure comparable to retinal detachment surgery, Wagner said.

LambdaVision plans to target its implant to late-stage AMD or RP patients, but hasn’t developed a sales and marketing strategy yet. The company hasn’t formed any strategic alliances with large device companies either because its main focus is still on proof-of-concept studies.

But Wagner said LambdaVision will reach out to retinal specialists.

The artificial retina market has its share of competitors including VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies Inc., Nano Retina Inc., and Second Sight Medical Products Inc., but none are direct technological competitors, Wagner said.

LambdaVision’s core technology was developed by UConn professor Robert Birge, who, along with students in his lab, founded the company in 2009.

LambdaVision has raised $265,000 so far and secured $1.28 million in research funding over the past two years from Connecticut Innovations (CI), the University of Connecticut Prototype Fund and the University of Connecticut R&D Corp.

The company will use its latest $110,000 capital injection from Connecticut Innovations to perform experiments that test the safety and efficiency of the implants.

“It is hard to tell what response the body would have as well as how well the implant really works until you put it in an animal,” said Gloria Kolb, director of venture development at UConn Ventures, the commercialization arm of the University of Connecticut. “This study will get us over some of the largest humps in development, including surgical development.”

UConn Ventures has aided LambdaVision’s development and the biotech’s growth is part of a larger effort by the school to turn research into marketable goods and services. The state is also trying to boost the bioscience sector. CI, for example, has recently committed $560,000 through its pre-seed fund to four startups focused on innovations in bioscience and medical devices.

Kolb said she believes LambdaVision’s technology could be a game changer for the school and state.

“What LambdaVision is doing, curing blindness, is so innovative, on the leading edge, and so needed for quality of life, that their success would put UConn on the map as not only one of the most advanced research universities, but one that knows how to translate their research into useful commercial products that benefit mankind,” Kolb said.