International Stem Cell Corporation and Eye Hospital Launch Collaboration to Develop Stem Cell-Based Treatment for Corneal Vision Impairment
July 10, 2010
International Stem Cell Corporation, and Sankara Nethralaya Eye Hospital, a nonprofit medical facility in India, recently announced commencement of a collaboration to develop ISCO’s ‘CytoCor™’ stem cell-derived corneal tissue. The goal is to use CytoCor to treat corneal blindness and vision impairment.
CytoCor consists of transparent human tissue derived from pluripotent human stem cells. These structures are produced in the laboratory and recent testing at Sankara Nethralaya and laboratories in the US has demonstrated a range of structural, biochemical and refractory properties characteristic of human cornea.
CytoCor may offer an opportunity for high-quality, cost-efficient transplantation tissue for the 10 million people world-wide suffering from corneal vision impairment, particularly in India and the rest of Asia, as well as in Europe. Standardized tissues derived from pluripotent stem cells, such as the CytoCor tissue, could eliminate the current problem that corneal tissue derived from donors may harbor diseases that could be transferred from the donor to the recipient. It may also provide a much needed alternative to the use of live and extracted animal eyes in the $500+million market for safety testing of drugs, chemicals and consumer products.
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