GenSight Biologics’ proprietary optogenetics platform is designed to bypass the loss of photoreceptors by combining gene therapy with a light-stimulation device. This technology, currently being applied to vision loss, may open a new therapeutic pathway for conditions where cellular function is lost.
Programming Surviving Retinal Cells to Respond to Light
The Challenge:
Many blinding diseases are caused by the degeneration and death of photoreceptor cells. These specialized cells detect light and convert it into electrical signals for the brain, enabling sight. Once photoreceptors are lost, the eye loses its normal way of capturing visual information.
The Solution:
GenSight Biologics’ optogenetics platform is designed to compensate for the loss of photoreceptors by conferring light sensitivity on surviving retinal cells. Our gene therapy induces the expression of a light-sensitive protein in retinal ganglion cells, while our optronic device captures the visual environment and projects light at the wavelength and intensity needed to activate these cells and restore a functional visual response.
GS030: Our Lead Optogenetics Program
GS030 is GenSight Biologics’ optogenetics-based product candidate targeting Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), the world’s most prevalent inherited retinal disease. GS030 aims to restore vision regardless of the 100+ genes that can cause the condition.
GS030 has not been granted marketing authorization in any country and is not commercially available.
The excerpts below are drawn from third-party sources and reflect the views of their authors alone.
Potential Applications
Retinal Diseases
Central Nervous System Disorders
Neurodegenerative Disorders
Pipeline
Learn more about the clinical development of GS030,
our optogenetics-based product candidate
