Lantheus, the parent company of Lantheus Medical Imaging, has collaborated with Cerevast Medical for treating retinal vein occlusion (RVO), a common cause of vision loss across the world.
Image: Lantheus partners with Cerevast. Photo: Courtesy of Patrick Brinksma/Unsplash.
The collaboration between Lantheus and Cerevast Medical is claimed to help Lantheus in identifying new applications for its microbubble franchise and to expand into new disease areas such as ocular diseases.
As per the new development and supply agreement, the microbubble from Lantheus will be used in combination with the ocular ultrasound device of Cerevast, with the target of improving blood flow in occluded retinal veins in the eye.
The RVO Technology from Cerevast will combine intravenous administration of Lantheus’ microbubbles with non-invasive ultrasound delivered across the closed eyelid.
The therapy claims that it can treat the underlying disease and has the potential to reduce or eliminate the need for chronic maintenance therapy and improve quality of life for patients inflicted by RVO.
The RVO technology is expected to enter phase 2B clinical trial in the second of this year. Cerevast has received investigational device exemption (IDE) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company has been allowed to use its investigational ocular ultrasound device in a clinical study to collect safety and effectiveness data. If approved, the RVO technology could be available in the market in 2023.
Lantheus president and CEO Mary Anne Heino said: “We are excited to collaborate with Cerevast to extend our microbubble franchise into a new treatment modality that has the potential to help millions of patients suffering from RVO. Our collaboration leverages both companies’ strengths as leaders providing novel, first-in-class solutions to the healthcare community.
“As the use of microbubbles in diagnostic and therapeutic applications gains more interest in the worldwide market, our collaboration with Cerevast demonstrates our commitment to have Lantheus’ microbubble franchise lead that evolution.”
RVO is a chronic eye condition that occurs when blood clots occur in the small veins carrying blood away from the retina. The condition affects about 16.4 million people worldwide and it is expected that every year about 1.1 million new cases are added, due to aging population.