Partners that see eye-to-eye 

• Corneal blindness affects ~ 6 million people in India with 30,000 new cases every year. The country requires more than over 1 million corneal transplants annually, but only 25,000 procedures are performed.
• Why’s that? Currently, the only way to get a cornea replaced is through transplant from people who have pledged to donate their organs upon their death. Unfortunately, 40% of the donated corneas don’t meet the standards required for a transplant.
• 500-backed biotech company Pandorum Technologies has been addressing this, and the latest update from the team: they are joining forces with India’s leading eyecare institute Dr. Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital to launch a one-of-its-kind center offering advanced regenerative therapeutics for corneal blindness.
• Pandorum’s bioengineered cornea can replace human tissue to promote the regeneration of a healthy, functional cornea. The partnership aims to help bridge the demand for corneas by making regenerative treatments accessible to millions. 
• The artificial cells are applied as liquid drops on the cornea. They solidify in less than 10 minutes, integrate into the patient’s cornea, regenerate nerves, and even suppress inflammation.
• Dr. Tuhin Bhowmick, CEO & Director at Pandorum called this “a step towards successfully restoring vision in patients suffering from corneal blindness with unmet clinical needs.”
• “Our flagship product bioengineered cornea is an innovative approach with demonstrated results in pre-clinical studies and currently under clinical regulatory path as an advanced therapy,” he added.
• Read the full story here.