Interview: Affordability at the cutting edge: stem cell therapy for ocular surface reconstruction

Dr Geeta K Vemuganti is Head of the Ophthalmic Pathology Laboratory and Head of the Sudhakar and Sreekant Ravi Stem Cell Biology Laboratory at the L V Prasad Eye Institute, India. Virender S Sangwan is an Associate Director of the L V Prasad Eye Institute and a practicing eye surgeon. When the two colleagues discussed Vemuganti’s work on culturing eye tissue tumors in vitro, they identified an opportunity to help patients with previously untreatable eye injuries. Patients whose eyes have been badly damaged through injury or autoimmune disease can lose the ability to produce limbal stem cells, which stimulate the cornea to renew itself, leading to scarring and loss of vision. The two doctors felt that a transplant of cultured corneal epithelium, containing the patient’s own limbal stem cells, could give hope to these patients, and resolved to start working towards this goal immediately. A year after initiating the project they had refined the culture technique and were ready to start human trials. To date, the team has treated 700 patients with the technique, which involves taking a small biopsy of the cornea from the undamaged eye (or the eye of a close relative) and growing the cells on human amniotic membrane to form a new area of cornea for transplantation to the damaged eye. Of the patients treated with this technique, 70% have restored vision 1 year after the transplant and 55% retain vision after 3–4 years. The L V Prasad Eye Institute covers all treatment costs for poorer patients, and the team use in-house laboratory techniques to keep the cost of the treatment affordable. They now regularly host visiting researchers and clinicians from around the world to demonstrate the technique.