Page 29 - Demo

Research 29Can you explain briefly what your project is about?We%u2019re interested in finding a new therapy for glaucoma. Depending on how the research pans out, the new therapy might prevent glaucoma from developing, or stop progression. We%u2019re testing an antibody called InflaMab. Antibodies are made naturally by our immune system to help fight against foreign bodies such as bacteria or viruses which might cause disease. But we can also use them as really specialised drugs. We can make them outside of our bodies in the lab, to target a particular molecule which we think is causing a disease.In this particular project we%u2019re targeting inflammation in the eye. We know that inflammation in the retina (the back of the eye) is significant in glaucoma. We want to try to dampen that inflammation by using our new antibody. The first step is to grow specialised cells associated with glaucoma in the lab and expose them to inflammation. We will then apply the antibody and see whether the antibody can inhibit the inflammation. If that%u2019s successful, we%u2019ll then move into testing on rats. That%u2019s obviously more similar to human eyes. We want to see if the antibody can inhibit the inflammation in rats%u2019 eyes. We%u2019re hoping to prevent the death of the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), which are involved in sending the signal from the eye along the optic nerve to the brain. If we can preserve the RGCs, in theory, we can protect the vision of people with glaucoma. What difference are you hoping it might make to our members and people with glaucoma?There%u2019s a long process involved in developing a new drug. It%u2019s often described as technological readiness level, and it goes from zero to eight. This funding has been really amazing, because it will probably get us from a four or five (validating the technology in a lab or environment) to six or seven (demonstrating the technology and developing a prototype).We%u2019re hoping that ultimately we might be able to develop a new treatment, that works in a different way to just lowering pressure in the eye. We know that inflammation in the eye is associated with raised eye pressure, although we don%u2019t know what%u2019s causing what. Either way, though, we know we need to address the inflammation to protect vision, because there%u2019s some evidence that inflammation begins in the optic nerve before the loss of the retinal ganglion cells. %u201cDepending on how the research pans out, the new therapy might prevent glaucoma from developing, or stop progression