Glaucoma is characterized by increased fluid pressure within the eye, or intraocular pressure, which often causes the degeneration of the optic nerve and blindness. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the US. According to the Glaucoma Research Foundation, an estimated three million people in the US and 65 million people worldwide suffer from glaucoma.
Scientists in Europe, from whom the technology was licensed by Duska, have demonstrated in an animal model of glaucoma that increased intraocular pressure leads to the release of adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP) into the extracellular space in the eye and upregulation of the P2X7 receptor (P2X7R).
The activation of the P2X7R is known to open cell membrane pores, through which large molecules can enter and damage the cell and eventually trigger programmed cell death, called apoptosis. In this setting the activation of P2X7R is manifested by retinal nerve cell damage.
The inhibition of this pathway, either by the elimination of ATP or the blockade of P2X7R, has been shown to prevent retinal nerve cell damage associated with increased intraocular pressure.
Dr Amir Pelleg, Duska’s president and CEO said: “Pharmacologic agents as well as RNAi technology could be employed to interfere with P2X7 signal transduction in the eye. As additional data becomes available, we will focus on the most practical approach for interfering with P2X7 signal transduction to be further developed by us as a therapeutic intervention for glaucoma.”