Clinical-stage ophthalmology company Acucela Inc. has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with The University of Manchester (UoM) where Acucela will develop and commercialize UoM's human rhodopsin based optogenetic gene therapy for the treatment of retinal degenerative disease, including Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP).
If approved, this genetic mutation-independent therapy will reportedly use a viral vector to transduce the ON-bipolar cells of the retina with human rhodopsin — a light sensitive protein normally expressed in the rod photoreceptors. The technology will reportedly be studied across a variety of genetic mutations in RP and related conditions, and Acucela plans to ultimately evaluate the technology's ability to restore some level of vision in patients who are legally blind.
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