JOHN A. MORAN EYE CENTER

Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine

The Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine (SCTM) was created to more quickly and costeffectively turn scientific discoveries into clinically effective diagnostics and therapies for blinding eye conditions.

With the support of committed donors, SCTM Executive Director Gregory S. Hageman, PhD, has turned a series of groundbreaking discoveries into new treatments with the goal of halting, even preventing, a prevalent form of agerelated macular degeneration (AMD).

More than 20 million Americans are living with AMD, a leading cause of central vision loss among adults age 55 and over. The number of Americans with AMD is expected to grow to 40 million people by 2050.

Groundbreaking Discoveries

Dr. Hageman and his team have developed treatments based on years of genetic research that demonstrates AMD is at least two biologically distinct diseases.

A cluster of genes on chromosome 1, which plays a critical role in the immune system, causes one form of AMD.

A pair of genes on chromosome 10, which control an important pathway in the back of the eye, causes a second form of AMD.

Collectively, these genes account for more than 90 percent of the risk for developing AMD.

New Treatments

The SCTM’s first new therapy targets chromosome 1directed AMD. Perceive Biotherapeutics, Inc. has raised $123 million for clinical trials, which began in late 2022.

An additional $10 million is needed from industry or private donations to pursue an SCTM therapy developed to treat chromosome 10-directed AMD.

AMD affects a part of the eye called the macula, the region of the retina that supports seeing fine detail. Individuals with the early stage develop drusen—abnormal, yellow deposits of lipids, fatty proteins that form under the macula. Later stages of AMD are often associated with the growth of blood vessels under the retina, or degeneration of the retina.