VIDEO: Future research areas for diabetic eye disease

Editor’s note: This is a previously posted video, and the below is an automatically generated transcript to be used for informational purposes. Please notify editor@healio.com if there are concerns regarding accuracy of the transcription.

The vast majority of our existing treatments are really about trying to deal with the sequelae of disease. So a major sequelae of diabetic eye disease is the release of vascular endothelial growth factor, VEGF, for example, and the drugs that we are, our first line therapies target VEGF. We really need therapies that not only are responsive to a sequelae of the disease, but are also disease modifying. So they actually prevent vascular injury in at-risk patients. So the consequences of the disease, bleeding, plasma fluid leakage into the retina, new vessel formation, that those treatments never occur in the first place. So some things that are potentially vascular protective would be, or agents that are vascular protected would be potentially useful. The retina as a nerve tissue. So things that are, that essentially protect neurons or neuronal cells within the retina from damage would also be critical. And then the things to improve vision outcomes, therapies that could potentially boost the function of the injured retina in the setting of diabetic eye disease could be a promising frontier that we really haven't begun to address. So I think those strategies would be, you know, very promising avenues to pursue.