Doubling our vision

But it does not have to be this way. What if there was a way to reduce the burden of regular doctor visits and eye injections? What if that solution was combined with new medicines to treat patients who do not respond to current options? This is where Roche has decided to innovate.

Roche scientists have worked on the development of an ocular implant that can be surgically implanted in the eye. The unique implant provides a continuous release of medicine into the eye over months and can be refilled when needed instead of injecting medicine directly into the eye as frequently as every month.

This groundbreaking advancement perfectly translates our goal of preserving and restoring vision through new therapies and innovative technologies and puts it directly into practice. 

This revolutionary innovation exemplifies our commitment to addressing the unmet needs of individuals with impaired vision. By innovating long-acting delivery technologies, our goal is to develop transformative solutions that can potentially improve the quality of life for those affected by visual impairments.

Our visionary ophthalmologists follow the science and are always looking for new ideas and creative approaches that truly help patients. While treatment options are available for patients with eye disease, they unfortunately do not work for everyone. Existing treatment options only target selected mechanisms linked to the disease. For patients whose disease is caused by other or additional disease-related mechanisms, more options are still needed.

By leveraging innovativetechnologies, Roche scientists are working on new potential medicines that simultaneously bind different proteins known to be involved in retinal disease processes. By interacting with these targets, medicines can exert their therapeutic effects and are intended to improve the outcomes for patients.

With both innovations at hand Roche scientists now are striving to provide patients with therapies combining the best of both worlds — effective medicines that are also long-acting. This could be achieved by applying drugs targeting multiple mechanisms with the long-acting ocular implant. These groundbreaking advancements could significantly reduce the burden of regular doctor visits and eye injections so patients may experience improved quality of life, reduced treatment-related stress, and better disease management.

Roche scientists plan to develop several drugs targeting different mechanisms that can be used with the ocular implant. This could potentially allow physicians and their patients with the implant to choose the most appropriate treatment options at the different stages of the disease. 

Barbara is positive and optimistic about the future. “We will continue to develop new molecules so that patients have the optimal treatment and treatment modality for their individual disease and can enjoy an optimal quality of life,” says Barbara.