Texas-based, late-stage clinical biotechnology company Nanoscope Therapeutics Inc on Monday announced a breakthrough discovery in Translational Vision Science & Technology (TVST, an ARVO journal) demonstrating that MCO-010 optogenetic treatment of the inner retina arrests further retinal degeneration in an animal model of retinitis pigmentosa (RP), as evaluated by optical coherence tomography and immunohistochemical analysis.

Following the intravitreal MCO-010 treatment (sonpiretigene isteparvovec), around 80% of bipolar cells were transduced in the retina, and no alterations in retinal thickness were seen, unlike the control group. According to Nanoscope Therapeutics, the results described in the publication provide evidence that the expression of MCO-010 in the retinas of mice experiencing photoreceptor degeneration halts further loss and prevents further disorganisation of the retinal cell layers.

Dr Vinit Mahajan, professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Ophthalmology at Stanford University, said: "MCO-010 is the only broadband, fast, and highly sensitive opsin currently in clinical trials and has demonstrated significant improvement in vision in advanced RP patients. In addition to restoring vision by MCO-010 intravitreal injection, measured by behavioural and electrophysiological assays, this disease-modifying aspect of MCO-010 provides a key therapeutic advantage in optogenetic therapies by targeting bipolar cells in the inner retina."