Currently, LambdaVision is partnering with Space Tango, with funding from NASA, to explore the benefits of microgravity for producing the artificial retina on the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory (ISS) that is currently orbiting the Earth. This artificial retina is one of the first technologies being produced on the ISS that has potential for clinical use. While this therapy can be effectively developed in labs on Earth, producing the artificial retina in low-Earth orbit (LEO), improves the homogeneity of the alternating protein and polymer layers, resulting in increased stability, performance, and optical quality of the multi-layer system. These improvements could reduce the amount of materials required to produce the artificial retina, lower costs, and accelerate production time for future pre-clinical and clinical efforts.

LambdaVision, together with Space Tango, will carry out a series of flights to the ISS to evaluate and improve production processes, produce artificial retinas that can be use in pre-clinical, as well as early stage clinical testing, and define parameters for commercial-scale production. The company intends to initiate clinical trials within the next three years for the treatment of advanced RP, and following initial success in treating this rare disease, will expand to investigate the use of the product in AMD.

Resources

Business Development
Accelerator for Biosciences in CT
BioCT: Connecting Connecticut’s Bioscience Community
Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Connecticut Innovations
CTNext
Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
MassChallenge
UConn Technology Incubation Program (TIP)

Financial Support
Birge Research Group (UConn)
Center for Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS)
Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, Inc.
Connecticut Innovations
National Science Foundation
National Institutes of Health
The Refinery
Harold S. Schwenk, Sr. Distinguished Chair of Chemistry