Vidus
Ocular Presents New Glaucoma Device
Vidus
Ocular presented its new device for treatment of glaucoma at
a seminar April 23 at Yale’s Anlyan Center, as part of the
CURE/Yale BioHaven Entrepreneurship Series. John Puziss,
director of technology licensing at the Yale Office of
Cooperative Research, introduced Dr. Ben R. Bronstein,
co-founder, president, and chief operating officer of Vidus
Ocular, and Dr. Bruce Shields, who is co-founder and chief
scientific and medical officer of Vidus Ocular and the
Marvin L. Sears professor and chairman emeritus of the
Department of Ophthalmology at Yale University School of
Medicine.
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Dr.
Bruce Shields
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Vidus
Ocular, Inc. is an early-stage company developing the
Aquashunt™ — a glaucoma drainage device that can relieve
elevated intraocular pressure in patients with or at risk
for the development of glaucoma. Glaucoma is a group of
chronic disorders, characterized by irreversible damage to
the optic nerve. This damage may result from a variety of
conditions, but elevated intraocular pressure is believed to
be the main causative factor associated with this disease.
In the
United States, of the approximately 2.5 million people
afflicted with glaucoma only about 1.2 million are actually
diagnosed with the disease and monitored by an eye care
professional. According to the Glaucoma Foundation and the
World Health Organization, glaucoma is the leading cause of
bilateral irreversible blindness worldwide and affects some
60 million people, of which just over 20 million have been
positively diagnosed and are being treated.
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Dr.
Ben Bronstein
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The
Aquashunt was designed by Dr. Shields. Composed of a
biocompatible material that conforms to the shape of the
eye, the Aquashunt is quick and easy to implant. It drains
aqueous humor from the anterior chamber to the
suprachoroidal space — a potential space that exists
between the sclera and choroid layers of the eye. In a
normal healthy eye this space handles approximately 20% of
the aqueous fluid outflow. Published studies have
demonstrated that this drainage pathway is capable of
handling a greater volume of outflow and can provide a
clinically meaningful and durable reduction of IOP.
Upon
successful completion of on-going in vitro and in vivo
studies, Vidus will commence pilot human trials with the
Aquashunt. The latter are expected to begin in the second
half of 2008.
The
Company has one issued patent licensed from Yale University
and three patent applications. Funding to date has been
provided by the company's founders and individual investors.
Presented
by CURE and the Yale Office of Cooperative Research, and
sponsored by Wiggin and Dana, Price WaterhouseCoopers, and
Elm Street Ventures, the BioHaven presentations were
followed by networking and refreshments.
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