Endothelial Disease
Corneal endothelial disease occurs when corneal endothelial cells are depleted, resulting in vision loss.
4%
PERCENT OF US POPULATION AFFECTED BY FUCHS DYSTROPHY, THE MOST COMMON CAUSE OF ENDOTHELIAL DISEASE
~31,000
TRANSPLANTS ANNUALLY INDICATED FOR ENDOTHELIAL DISEASE IN THE US
Leading indication for corneal transplantation worldwide
Standard of Care
ENDOTHELIAL KERATOPLASTY (EK)
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Diseased endothelium is replaced with tissue from deceased donors
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Graft thickness is determined by amount of underlying tissue attached to endothelial cell layer
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Thicker grafts are easier to implant during surgery (DSAEK)
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Thinner grafts achieve superior clinical outcomes (DMEK & UT-DSAEK)
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Inefficient & costly tissue procurement
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1:2 ratio of donors to recipients
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Minimal quality & safety evaluation
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Thinner grafts pose surgical difficulties
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Variable tissue properties contribute to suboptimal outcomes and complications
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Up to 20% of cases require secondary corrective procedures
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Solution: Tissue Engineered Grafts
Solution: Endo-Tek™ is human-derived cultured corneal endothelial cells seeded onto a biocompatible hydrogel. Cells recovered from a single donor can be expanded in the lab to generate up to 60 corneal transplants.
Deceased donor
Corneal tissue
recovery
Cell dissociation
& expansion
Implantation of
Endo-Tek™ for EK patient
60 grafts from 1 donor
seeded onto substrate
Competitive Advantages
EFFICIENCY
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Cells from 1 donor can be expanded
into 60 grafts
BROAD TREATMENT SCOPE
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Competing technologies are limited
to subsets of endothelial failure
QUALITY
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Extensive quality control measures can
be built into the manufacturing process
HYDROGEL SUBSTRATE
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Biocompatible
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Higher cell count than deceased
donor tissue -
Substrate is strong & optically transparent
SUPERIOR GRAFT
HANDLING PROPERTIES
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Endo-Tek™ alleviates difficulties
associated with surgical procedures
