Lead Indication—Cataract
Cataract is a degenerative disease mostly brought about by aging and oxidative stress pathology. Because it is associated with aging, almost 100% of the population develop this disease; usually beginning around the age of 50 in the U.S. (and as early as 40 in other parts of the world). Many people don’t realize they have the disease because the development of cataracts is gradual.
Cataracts are believed, in part, to be the eventual result of a range of insults including ultraviolet radiation from sunlight, smoking, alcohol consumption and age, all of which are believed to trigger the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS results in oxidative stress and eventually leads to the development of calcium-bound aggregates of lipids and proteins which cause clouding of the eye’s lens.
These aggregates cause blurring or dimming of vision. They can also cause glare which results in difficulty driving at night and reading in dim light (which cannot be corrected with refraction).
Cataract has the largest prevalence of ophthalmic disorders, accounting for more than 50% of the diagnosed cases for degenerative ocular diseases. In fact, the prevalence of cataract is in line with the scope of many of the most common disease diagnoses such as high cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes.
Remarkably, there is no existing therapeutic treatment for cataract. The only standard of care is lens replacement surgery and only for late-stage cataract. This procedure involves the removal of the opacified natural lens, replacing it with a synthetic device called an intraocular lens.
Cataracts are often classified according to a scoring system known as Lens Opacities Classification System II (LOCS II). These scores range from “1” to “4” which are early cataracts to mature/dense cataracts, respectively. In the U.S., patients must typically wait until they have surpassed a LOCS II score of 3 (severe – with Best Corrected Visual Acuity worse than 20/40) before the procedure can be performed. This puts the average age for surgery at 72 years old, leaving people to suffer through exponentially-deteriorating vision for up to twenty years.
Market research indicates that up to 87 million Americans have some level of cataract. Of those, approximately 1.5 million are approved by Medicare for cataract surgery each year. Thus, Chakshu believes that a self-administered therapeutic treatment for pre-surgical cataracts will change the paradigm of cataract care. It will allow patients earlier care and opportunities for vision improvement, and it will give physicians treatment options for millions of their patients who would normally have to wait for surgery.