RetroSense Therapeutics
Biopharmaceutical company RetroSense Therapeutics recently announced the first patient has been successfully dosed in the first clinical trial to evaluate the safety of RST-001.
RST-001 is designed to restore some vision in RP -- a genetic condition that leads to the progressive degeneration of rod and cone photoreceptors (cells found in the retina that sense light), resulting in severe vision loss and blindness. The study reportedly includes two parts -- an initial dose-ranging study and a second part aimed at obtaining additional safety and clinical data.
RetroSense Therapeutics is developing RST-001 as a first-in-class gene therapy application of optogenetics, which broadly refers to means of conferring light sensitivity to cells that were not previously, or natively, light sensitive. By applying optogenetics to retinas in which rod and cone photoreceptors have degenerated, RetroSense is working to confer new light sensitivity to the retina, with the expectation of some degree of improved or restored vision for affected patients.
Click here to read the full press release.