Post by Cirrus Therapeutics

Vision loss in older age is easy to dismiss as inevitable. But for tens of millions of people worldwide, what feels like a byproduct of normal aging is actually dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD), a disease that in its advanced form progressively steals central vision and remains, to this day, without a cure. Nearly one in ten Americans over 50 already shows early signs of it. The burden grows heavier as populations age, with the most severe vision loss concentrated in people 75 and older. A recent analysis estimates that roughly 12 million people worldwide are living with late-stage disease. Current treatments for late-stage dry AMD, geographic atrophy, can slow lesion growth modestly but require frequent injections and cannot restore what has already been lost. Most act downstream, targeting single pathways in a disease driven by complex, age-dependent biology. At Cirrus Therapeutics, we are working upstream to restore lost vision and extend ocular healthspan. Our scientists identified IRAK-M, a central regulator of immune homeostasis in the eye, as a key driver of age-dependent outer retinal thinning. As we age, IRAK-M levels fall, leaving the retina exposed across multiple inflammatory and metabolic pathways. Our AAV-based gene therapy is designed to restore IRAK-M to more youthful levels, rebalancing the retina's immune environment to protect the cells that sustain central vision, slow or halt disease progression, and potentially reverse early vision loss. Instead of managing damage after it occurs, we are working to rebuild the eye's defenses before vision is gone. To learn more about the impact of dry AMD and how we are approaching this challenge, watch the short explainer below and follow Cirrus Therapeutics for updates on our journey. #vision #AMD #DryAMD #WetAMD #optometry #opthalmology #healthcare #science #STEM #biotech #biopharma #research #lifesciences Ying Kai Chan Andrew Dick Sumeet Sarin Si Hui Tan Meihua Ju Yogeshwar S.

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