A new partnership between Michigan State University and Macquarie University in Australia will assess and test a new neuroprotective therapeutic for glaucoma, a leading and incurable cause of blindness and vision loss in humans and animals worldwide.
Known for Success
In November 2021, Komáromy was contacted by Macquarie University’s Commercialisation and Innovations manager, who was interested in the possibility of Komáromy’s research group conducting pre-clinical studies for their new and promising experimental glaucoma therapy.
“My laboratory has the expertise and a well-established track record of moving novel therapies for blinding diseases from the laboratory to clinical application,” says Komáromy.
Macquarie and MSU then applied together for funding from Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council, which was approved in December 2022.
Dr. András Komáromy, professor in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences for the Michigan State College of Veterinary Medicine, and Associate Professor Dr. Vivek Gupta from Macquarie Medical School in Australia will conduct the research necessary to bring Gupta’s retinal gene therapy—a novel, engineered nanoparticle expressing the next-generation protease inhibitor neuroserpin—to clinical trials in humans diagnosed with glaucoma.
Glaucoma is common. According to Komáromy, the global cost of glaucoma is expected to pass $3B and affect 112M people by 2040. The disease damages the eye’s retinal ganglion cells and optic nerve, which causes irreversible blindness. Today, the only available treatments focus on lowering pressure in the eye; while these therapeutics slow glaucoma progression, they do not always prevent the deterioration of sight.
Komáromy and Gupta’s project, “Let There be Light—Modified Serpin as a Dual Function Therapeutic Agent in Glaucoma,” is two-part. At Macquarie University, Gupta will use rodent models to assess the therapeutic benefits of neuroserpin, the protease inhibitor that he and his team will deliver directly to retinal cells using their novel nanoparticle. Once confirmed, Komáromy and his team at MSU will conduct the same tests in translationally relevant canine models.
“If we find the promising results we’re expecting and hoping for, then the therapy can move to clinical trials in people. Unfortunately, many people have glaucoma, and many more will develop it in the future. Dr. Gupta’s therapy could have a strong impact on their quality of life and alter the trajectory of glaucoma’s patient population worldwide,” says Komáromy.
The nearly $800K award is funded by Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council, a contemporary of the National Institutes of Health in the US. Dr. Vivek Gupta is the primary investigator for this study.