‘2 million cases of incurable eye diseases’: Biotech experts call for affordable gene, cell therapies

Bengaluru: With an aim to highlight cell and gene therapies for various diseases and bring stakeholders on a common platform, India’s first retinal cell and gene therapy conference ‘Foresight 2023’ was recently held in Bengaluru.

The summit was hosted by Eyestem Research, a clinical-stage biotechnology and cell therapy company in association with inStem (Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine) and C-CAMP (Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms).

India has over 1.5 million to 2 million people suffering from incurable eye diseases such as dry age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. With an aim to maximise India’s potential as a go-to destination in the field of biotechnology, Foresight 2023 provided key stakeholders with a platform to share their knowledge, insights, and research on retinal cell and gene therapy and build a collaborative and supportive community. The summit brought together global experts and leaders to harness the power of the global collective in finding cures for some of the most pressing eye diseases.

The attendees had the opportunity to engage with industry veterans and gain insights into various crucial aspects of retinal diseases, cell-based therapeutics, gene editing, genetic modifications, product development in cell therapy, as well as disease modelling and drug screening.

The keynote speaker at the event was Dr Kapil Bharti, scientific director of the National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health. Dr Bharti spoke about his journey of bringing the world’s first autologous RPE (Retinal Pigment Epithelium) therapy into clinical trials.

“Currently available cell and gene therapies cost north of 1.5 lakh dollars per dose. Eyestem’s mission is to make such therapies affordable to a large part of the world. With a highly trained and effective team, we aim to reduce the overhead cost to make this ambition a reality. I will continue to guide them towards this mission as a member of their scientific advisory board,” said Dr Bharti.

Dr David Gamm, director of McPherson Eye Research Institute, University of Wisconsin, who was the plenary speaker at the summit, said, “It was my privilege to become familiar with the impressive advancement in science and medicine taking place in Bangalore and across India. But even greater than the cutting-edge science, the limitless potential for future global advancements originating from India, is pursued here.”

On this occasion, Dr Jogin Desai, CEO and founder of Eyestem, said, “Through collaboration and knowledge-sharing, we can drive innovation and create scalable platforms to address the unmet needs of patients globally. We hope that, by gathering some brilliant minds under one single roof, this summit has helped in catalysing further discoveries and advancements in the treatment of retinal diseases.”