Eyegenex has recently gathered promising data on their drug candidate, CPP-P1, designed to fight the rising number of blindness cases in patients with glaucoma and non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). The widespread use of semaglutide (e.g., Ozempic) for weight loss has led to more cases of NAION. Both glaucoma and NAION cause vision loss by damaging the optic nerve cells.

In a recent publication, the authors shared results from detailed lab studies on animals and tissue samples, all demonstrating the significant potential of CPP-P1 to prevent blindness.

Key findings include:

1. Adding a cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) to the neuroprotective peptide (P1) increased its ability to enter cells by seven times.
2. The drug protected neurons, especially retinal ganglion cells, from dying in harmful conditions like the lack of growth factors or high endothelin-3 levels.
3. More experiments showed that CPP-P1 increased two growth factors (CTNF and BDNF) and also boosted antioxidants, which help prevent cell damage.
4. Giving the drug to rodents almost completely stopped vision loss caused by high eye pressure.
5. In another experiment using a human retina model that mimics cell degeneration, cells were cut off from their connections and deprived of growth factors. Only 50% of the cells survived for a week. When the drug was added, the survival rate increased to 85%.
6. RNA sequencing on adult retinal ganglion cells from high eye pressure rat eyes, comparing cells treated with CPP-P1 to those treated with a control buffer, showed that CPP-P1 increased proteins related to cell connections, CREB signaling, and calcium signaling, all important for preventing vision loss.

Eyegenex thanks Ram Nagaraj, Dorota Stankowska, and the other authors for their important contributions to this research. Their work has paved the way for possible breakthroughs in preventing blindness in glaucoma and NAION.