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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)  

  • Diseased endothelium is replaced with tissue from deceased donors

  • Graft thickness is determined by amount of underlying tissue attached to endothelial cell layer

    • Thicker grafts are easier to implant during surgery (DSAEK)

    • Thinner grafts achieve superior clinical outcomes (DMEK & UT-DSAEK)

  • Inefficient & costly tissue procurement

  • 1:2 ratio of donors to recipients

  • Minimal quality & safety evaluation

  • Thinner grafts pose surgical difficulties

  • Variable tissue properties contribute to suboptimal outcomes and complications

    • Up to 20% of cases require secondary corrective procedures

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.

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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

  • Cells from 1 donor can be expanded
    into 60 grafts

BROAD TREATMENT SCOPE

  • Competing technologies are limited
    to subsets of endothelial failure

QUALITY

  • Extensive quality control measures can
    be built into the manufacturing process

HYDROGEL SUBSTRATE

  • Biocompatible

  • Higher cell count than deceased
    donor tissue

  • Substrate is strong & optically transparent

SUPERIOR GRAFT
HANDLING PROPERTIES

  • Endo-Tek™ alleviates difficulties
    associated with surgical procedures

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