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A research team, headed by Dr Moon-Hyeong Seo from the Natural Product Drug Development Center<\/a> at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)<\/a>, has developed a therapeutic agent for dry AMD. This innovative treatment, designed to be administered as eye drops, directly tackles the challenges associated with injection-based therapies, including patient discomfort, potential medical complications, and difficulties with long-term adherence.<\/p>\n Dr Seo\u2019s team has focused on the inflammatory signalling pathway of Toll-like receptors (TLRs), critical in the pathogenesis of AMD. By constructing an extensive library of over 190,000 peptide drug candidates with structures similar to natural TLR signalling proteins, they utilised advanced screening technology to identify peptides capable of inhibiting harmful protein interactions.<\/p>\n The efficacy of these peptides was validated in animal models, where mice with induced dry AMD received the peptide-based eye drops. Treated mice demonstrated retinal cell protection and reduced retinal degeneration, with results comparable to healthy control groups. This marks a significant milestone, indicating that non-invasive eye drops can offer comparable benefits to existing injectable therapies for dry AMD.<\/p>\n The introduction of this novel eye drop formulation brings numerous advantages. It enhances patient convenience by eliminating the need for repetitive invasive procedures and reducing associated risks. The non-invasive nature of the treatment also lowers costs, making it a more accessible and safer alternative for AMD patients. \u201cWe plan to pursue collaborative research with domestic and international pharmaceutical companies to advance global clinical trials for this innovative dry AMD therapeutic,\u201d explained Dr Seo.<\/p>\n KIST, founded in 1966, continues to spearhead cutting-edge research addressing national and global challenges. This breakthrough has been supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT through KIST\u2019s major project initiatives and the Excellent Young Researcher Program.<\/p>\n