ARPA-H Announces Pioneering Investments to Reverse Blindness

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) announced the teams to receive the first investments from its Transplantation of Human Eye Allografts (THEA) program. ARPA-H, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has committed $125 million to support these teams in their development of the first-ever complete eye transplantation to restore sight. 

“What if we could cure blindness?” Renee Wegrzyn, PhD and ARPA-H Director said in a recent press release. “THEA intends to revolutionize the reconnection of nerves to the brain and develop breakthroughs in transplantation, preservation, and neuroscience. ARPA-H’s investment has the potential to repair vision loss for millions of Americans.”   

Today, some of the leading causes of blindness – glaucoma, macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy – are irreversible. THEA states their mission is to leverage emerging microsurgical techniques with cell-based therapies to regenerate nerves from the eyes to the brain and maintain critical ocular structures. 

To do this, THEA plans to pursue three technical areas: 1) the retrieval of donor eyes and main maintenance of the health of donor eyes until transplantation; 2) optic nerve repair and regeneration; and 3) surgical procedures, post-operative care, and functional assessment. 

The teams will be led by experts in the field:

• InGel Therapeutics, focusing stem cell-derived retinal cells and using 3-D printed click-lock gel technology
• Stanford University, focusing on donor eye procurement, developing new strategies to promote survival and regeneration of the transplanted cells, and performing transplant surgeries.
• The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, focusing on developing novel stem cell and bioelectronic technologies to promote nerve regeneration and performing transplant surgeries.
• The University of Miami Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, focusing on donor eye procurement and preservation outside the body with its eye-ECMO device.

“While there are therapies to slow the progression of vision loss, there are currently none that can bring back a person’s ability to see,” Calvin Roberst MD and ARPA-H THEA Program said. “ARPA-H’s investments may eventually help generate new solutions for other neurological conditions, as well, such as spinal cord injuries.”