Ikarovec -Diabetic Macular Edema (DME) Biotechnology
Diabetic macular edema (DME) is the most common cause of sight loss in diabetics. The longer you have diabetes, the greater your chance of developing sight loss. About 90% of people with type 1 diabetes will have some degree of retinopathy after 10 years. For people with type 2 diabetes, the chance of developing retinopathy after 10 years is between 67% and 80%. DME is caused by blood vessels in the eye becoming leaky and allowing fluid to build up in the macula, at the centre area of the retina. It is a complication of diabetic retinopathy.
Current treatment relies on regular eye injections of proteins which neutralise vascular endothelial-derived factor or VEGF, a protein which is partially responsible for the leaky blood vessels. However, less than half of DME patients respond adequately to the injections. Therefore new more efficacious agents are urgently needed for this eye disease.