S4.E7. 大糖眼疫

視網膜疾病是近期崛起、逐漸被重視的領域，加入百靈佳殷格翰的造浪者部隊，開發創新的療法吧！

只要提起「眼睛」兩個字：就能看到Ulrike Gräfe-Mody 博士閃閃發亮的雙眼，並且感受到她對這個主題的熱情。身為視網膜健康（Retinal Health）部門負責人，Gräfe-Mody 表示：「人必須時時刻刻了解、感知周遭發生的事情；約有80%的資訊來自於眼睛。患有視網膜疾病的人有可能會視力受損或失明。視網膜疾病會影響我們照顧自己和他人的能力。」

視網膜領域需要更多有效並且安全的療法；因此百靈佳殷格翰決定進軍這塊資源匱乏的領域。視網膜病變適應症主管Remko Bakker 說明：「我們首先發現眼部疾病與糖尿病併發症之間的關聯以及發展潛能，進而開始研究黃斑部水腫（diabetic macular edema，簡稱DME）以及糖尿病視網膜病變（diabetic retinopathies）。現在則是將焦點放在糖尿病眼部疾病之外，希望能開發出更多運用新醫療方案與藥物分子的可能。」

A journey into uncharted territories

Developing innovative treatments for the recently established area of retinal diseases: Feeling like a pioneer at Boehringer Ingelheim.

When you talk with Dr. Ulrike Gräfe-Mody about eyes, her passion for the subject quickly comes to light. “Did you know that the eyes give us approximately 80 percent of the information about what happens around us? Imagine what it’s like for a person with a retinal disease to be impacted by visual impairment and blindness!” says the Head of Retinal Health. “It often threatens our ability to take care of ourselves and others.”

In fact, there still is a high and yet unmet medical need for more effective and safe therapies. This motivated Boehringer Ingelheim to enter into the field of Retinal Health. “We first saw the potential to help people with eye diseases as a complication of diabetes. It started ith research in diabetic macular edema and diabetic retinopathies. Going forward we identified new mechanisms and molecules with broader application beyond diabetic eye diseases,” describes Dr. Remko Bakker, Director of the indication group Retinopathy.

Since then, further progress has been made. Boehringer Ingelheim is building a comprehensive pipeline portfolio in Retinal Health with the first three assets already in clinical development. Dedicated scientists from the company are building on existing knowledge and expertise from other disease areas in Human Phama. Other key components of the company’s innovation strategy are relationships with the retinal health community as well as external partnerships. The forward-looking collaboration with the US company Inflammasome Therapeutics in September 2019 is one example to reflect this. Their novel delivery technology using a long-acting degradable intravitreal implant complements Boehringer Ingelheim’s pipeline. “Our focus is on improving the lives of people with retinal diseases,” explains Gräfe-Mody. “We have the ambition to transform retinal health for them by pioneering treatments and technologies.”