Introduction

Innovative method of treating corneal pathologies with an ophthalmic composition obtained from umbilical cord blood plasma.

Technical features

A novel centrifugation procedure (TRL 3) to prepare and use Cord Blood plasma (the liquid portion of anticoagulated blood) from standard CB collections – instead of serum – as a source of biological material for the preparation of ophthalmic compositions for treating pathological conditions of the eye including moderate and severe dry eye disease (DED), Sjogren’s syndrome, ocular burns and ocular graft versus host disease (oGVHD). This invention can be applied in the broad emerging field of regenerative medicine, with a particular focus on medical conditions associated with corneal damage (ulcers, burns, dryness, autoimmunity). Traditional therapies used for the treatment of corneal damage are based on artificial tears and anti-inflammatory pharmacological drugs including cortisone, other immunosuppressor drugs and their derivatives. However, a proportion of patients, particularly those representing about 5% of the population who show the more severe form of DED (Stapleton F et al. TFOS DEWS II Epidemiology Report. Ocul Surf. 2017;15:334-365), do not show benefits from the currently available treatments.

Possible Applications

• Medical conditions associated with corneal damage (ulcers, burns, dryness, autoimmunity);
• Acute and chronic treatments of Dry Eye Disease (DED).

Advantages

• Blood components are currently considered as very promising biological materials for the treatment of ocular surface diseases;
• CB plasma contains high concentrations of cell regenerative factors and unique immunomodulatory molecules, offering a great therapeutic impact for the management of autoimmunity, the main pathogenetic mechanism of DED.