Novel Chemical Crosslinking of the Cornea for Treatment of Keratoconus

印度南部的Aravind眼科保健系统是一种医疗保健模式，可以补充政府的努力，也可以自给自足，以克服发展中国家可避免的失明问题。Aurolab公司是Aravind眼科护理系统的一个组成部分。它生产各种高品质的眼科耗材。与Aravind眼科护理系统和aurorab建立转化联盟将为我们提供获得商业基础设施的机会，包括支持聚合物技术和制造，产品商业化方面的监管批准，知识产权保护和广告，以及分销和标签。产品远销全球130多个国家，产品符合美国、欧盟和世界卫生组织的法规要求。所有Aurolab产品都在高效的生产线上生产，并采取严格的质量保证措施。我们打算与Aurolab和Aravind眼科保健系统建立这种转化联盟，以利用我们的新型化学交联疗法治疗圆锥角膜。圆锥角膜是一种进行性疾病，通常影响年轻人和工作年龄的人，在这种情况下，角膜变得畸形，严重破坏了进入眼睛的光线的折射。圆锥角膜的主要特征之一是角膜机械稳定性的丧失。增加角膜的硬度可以减少这种使人衰弱的眼病的发展。角膜胶原交联的重点是硬化角膜，以保持角膜的完整性，由于在胶原蛋白内形成的强键。利用我们对工程原理的理解，定义了材料结构和机械性能之间的关系，我们将开发一种使用二羧酸的新型胶原交联疗法，因此这个建议显然是工程和医疗保健技术之间的接口，并与健康合成生物学领域密切相关。为了建立伙伴关系，我们将在项目的两年内定期对印度进行多次访问。我们还将接待来自印度的资深科学家和临床医生的访问。特别是，我们将为来自Aurolab的产品开发科学家举办为期3个月的研究交流，以了解我们的研究，并促进我们的PDRA在Aurolab进行为期3个月的研究交流，以了解产品制造和规模。我们将共同监督Aravind眼科护理系统的一名临床研究员，我们将在利物浦建立一个体内动物模型设施，作为长期合作伙伴关系的一部分，该设施将支持该项目和未来的发展项目。这些将从联盟中大大受益的其他项目领域可能会带来转化机会，并对英国和全球社会的健康和财富产生影响。通过共同设计这些项目，我们将确保它们满足印度、英国和全球的临床和商业需求。具体的例子可以包括交联疗法的外推，以发展一种策略，以增加溃疡角膜的机械特性，以防止穿孔和帮助愈合，并有可能增加巩膜的硬度，作为近视和/或青光眼的治疗。我们的项目合作伙伴特别感兴趣的另一个领域是绷带隐形眼镜的开发，这种隐形眼镜有可能提供抗真菌药物，如伏立康唑，用于治疗真菌性角膜炎，这是印度的一个主要临床问题。从更长远的角度来看，利物浦大学眼科和视觉科学系的几个项目将从这个联盟中受益，比如开发用于眼睛前部和后部的药物输送设备。

The Aravind Eye Care System in Southern India was established as a health care model that could supplement the efforts of the government and also be self-supporting to overcome the problem of avoidable blindness in a developing country. The company Aurolab is an integral part of the Aravind Eye Care System. It manufactures a wide range of high quality ophthalmic consumables. Developing a translational alliance with the Aravind Eye Care System and Aurolab will provide us with the opportunities to gain access to a commercial infra-structure which includes support for polymer technologies and manufacture, product commercialisation in terms of regulatory approvals, IP protection and advertising, as well as distribution and labelling. Aurolab's products are exported to 130 and more countries worldwide and their products meet the regulatory requirements of the USA, EU and WHO. All Aurolab products are manufactured on efficient production lines with strict quality assurance measures. We intend to develop this translational alliance with Aurolab and the Aravind Eye Care System to exploit our novel chemical cross-linking therapy for the treatment of keratoconus. Keratoconus is a progressive condition, often affecting young and working age people, in which the cornea becomes misshapen significantly disrupting the refraction of light into the eye. One of the key features of keratoconus is a loss of corneal mechanical stability. Increasing the stiffness of the cornea can reduce the progression of this debilitating eye disease. Corneal collagen cross-linking focuses on stiffening the cornea in order to preserve corneal integrity due to strong bonds formed within the collagen. Using our understanding of the engineering principles that define the relationship between the structure and mechanical properties of materials we will develop a novel collagen cross-linking therapy using di-carboxylic acids thus this proposal lies clearly at the interface between Engineering and Healthcare Technologies and aligns closely with the Synthetic Biology for Health area.To establish the partnership we will make multiple visits to India regularly over the 2 years of the project. We will also host visits from senior scientists and clinicians from India. In particular we will host a 3 month research exchange for a Product Development Scientist from Aurolab to learn about our research and facilitate a research exchange for our PDRA to spend 3 months at Aurolab to learn about product manufacture and scale up. We will jointly supervise a clinical research fellow at the Aravind Eye Care System and we will establish an in vivo animal model facility in Liverpool which will support this project and future development projects as part of the long term partnership. These other project areas that would benefit greatly from the alliance could lead to translational opportunities and impact to the health and wealth of societies in the UK and globally. By working together to design these projects we will ensure that they address the clinical and commercial requirements for India, the UK and globally. Specific examples could include the extrapolation of the cross-linking therapy to the development of a strategy to increase the mechanical properties of ulcerated cornea to protect against perforation and aid healing and the potential to increase the stiffness of the sclera as a treatment for myopia and/or glaucoma. A further area of particular interest to our project partners is the development of bandage contact lenses with the potential to deliver anti-fungal agents such as voriconazole for the treatment of fungal keratitis which is a major clinical problem in India. In the more longer term there are several projects within the Department of Eye and Vision Science at the University of Liverpool that would benefit from this alliance such as the development of drug delivery devices for the front and back of the eye.