Addressing a Blind Spot in Treatments for the Cornea

The cornea is a transparent and multi-layered dome that sits at the front of the eye. It not only provides protection, but bends light to focus it on the retina. Many corneal diseases cause scarring that reduces the transparency of the cornea and results in the loss of vision. In fact, corneal diseases are a leading cause of blindness. Claris Bio is seeking to address the need for therapies to treat corneal disease by developing recombinant human deleted hepatocyte growth factor to improve and accelerate corneal healing. We spoke to Clarke Atwell, CEO of Claris Bio, about the cornea, the role hepatocyte growth factor plays in its healing, and the rare and chronic condition neurotrophic keratitis that it is focusing on as its lead indication.