Novel Chemical Crosslinking of the Cornea for Treatment of Keratoconus

印度南部的Aravind眼科护理系统是作为一种保健模式建立的，它可以补充政府的努力，也可以自我维持，以克服发展中国家可避免的失明问题。Aurolab公司是Aravind眼科护理系统的组成部分。它生产各种高质量的眼科耗材。与Aravind Eye Care System和Aurolab建立翻译联盟将为我们提供获得商业基础设施的机会，其中包括对聚合物技术和制造的支持，监管批准方面的产品商业化，知识产权保护和广告，以及分销和标签。Aurolab的产品出口到全球130多个国家，其产品符合美国，欧盟和世界卫生组织的法规要求。所有Aurolab产品均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 Eye Care System建立这种翻译联盟，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，其中角膜变得畸形，显著破坏光线进入眼睛的折射。圆锥角膜的关键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进展。角膜胶原交联的重点是硬化角膜，以保持角膜的完整性，由于在胶原内形成的强键。利用我们对定义材料结构和机械性能之间关系的工程原理的理解，我们将开发一种新的胶原交联疗法，因此，这项提案显然是在工程和医疗保健技术之间的接口，并与合成生物学健康领域密切合作。为了建立合作伙伴关系，我们将在2015年定期多次访问印度。多年的项目。我们还将接待来自印度的高级科学家和临床医生的访问。特别是，我们将为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度过3个月的研究交流，以了解产品制造和规模扩大。我们将共同监督Aravind眼科护理系统的临床研究员，并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开发项目。这些将从联盟中受益匪浅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要求。具体实例可包括将交联疗法外推到开发增加溃疡角膜的机械性质以防止穿孔和帮助愈合的策略，以及增加巩膜硬度作为近视和/或青光眼治疗的可能性。我们的项目合作伙伴特别感兴趣的另一个领域是开发绷带隐形眼镜，该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，利物浦大学的眼睛和视觉科学系有几个项目将从这种联盟中受益，例如开发用于眼睛前部和后部的药物输送装置。

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.