Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) leads to severe and irreversible vision loss, while neovascular AMD (nAMD) accounts for 80-90% of AMD blindness. Current anti-VEGF therapies are the standard of care, but these therapies require life-long repeated intraocular injections. These frequent intravitreal injections increase the risk of complications, including submacular hemorrhage, intraocular hypertension, inflammation, and retinal detachment. Therefore, repeated treatments for nAMD place a substantial burden on healthcare systems, patients, and their caregivers. Additionally, approximately 25-35% of individuals with aggressive nAMD show suboptimal responses to the anti-VEGF therapies, experience treatment-extended failure, or require intensive, frequent intraocular injections, and do not prevent irreversible vision loss.
HG202 is a CRISPR/Cas13 RNA-editing therapy delivered through one single AAV vector to partially knock down the expression of VEGFA and thus inhibit CNV formation in AMD. The long-term, stable delivery of HG202 following a one-time gene-editing therapy treatment for nAMD may potentially reduce the frequent injections and the potential risks of currently available anti-VEGF therapies since it does not rely on the long-term expression of anti-VEGF antibodies.