Description:
The current state of the art
Ischemia retinopathies cause retinal neurovascular injury and are a primary contributor to blinding disease that affects neonates (retinopathy of prematurity), working-age adults (diabetic retinopathy), and the elderly (branch vein occlusion and age-related macular degeneration).
The problems with the current art
Despite the use of anti-VEGF, laser, or surgery-based treatments in Ischemic-retinopathies including retinopathy of prematurity, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, novel and effective medicines to treat these pathologies are still needed.
The advantages of our invention:
AU scientist developed the novel use of pegylated recombinant arginase 1 (currently under investigation as a cancer therapy) to treat retinal neovascularization induced injury such as retinopathy of prematurity, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, retinal vein occlusion, or retinopathy of prematurity by promoting reparative angiogenesis and decrease neovascularization. The compound can be applied through intravitreal injection or topical application. In the mouse study, the systemic arginase 1 treatment can cross the blood-retina barrier and provides neuroprotection after ischemia-reperfusion, middle cerebral artery occlusion, and optic nerve crush.
AURI 2020-007
Lead Inventor: Ruth Caldwell, PhD https://www.augusta.edu/centers/vbc/rcaldwell.php
IP status: provisional application 17,244,385 filing date 04/29/2021
References: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30254218/