Boehringer Ingelheim joins the Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative to combat vision loss from diabetes
This announcement establishes Boehringer as the first pharmaceutical company to join the MTM Vision Consortium.
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Boehringer Ingelheim and the Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative (MTM Vision) have begun what is expected to be a long-term collaboration. This announcement establishes Boehringer as the first pharmaceutical company to join the MTM Vision Consortium.
The MTM Vision Consortium
The MTM Vision Consortium is working to unite innovators in the pre-competitive space from universities, foundations, as well as pharmaceutical and biotech companies. The consortium is housed at the University of Michigan. It hopes to lead international collaboration and is motivated by the urgency of millions of people worldwide who have lost or are at risk of losing their eyesight as a consequence of diabetes.1
The Consortium members share several goals:
- address the need for novel means to better diagnose and stage diabetic retinal diseases (DRDs)
- validate promising clinical trial endpoints and biomarkers, and
- accelerate the development of breakthrough therapies.
With these goals in mind, there is potential for treatment earlier in disease, before vision loss occurs, and to contribute to the creation of new regulatory pathways for drug approval.1
A new collaboration
Dr. Ulrike Graefe-Mody, Global Head of Retinal Health at Boehringer Ingelheim is quoted in the joint press release1 as saying, “We are excited to join forces with MTM Vision in leading a new era of vision preservation and protection for people living with diabetes. This collaboration will help us enhance our understanding of the progression of diabetic retinopathy and the role of retinal non-perfusion, supporting the development of our portfolio in diabetic retinal diseases. It also gives us access to a unique biospecimen bank, accelerating our research and biomarker identification. In return, we are openly sharing our current efforts for evidence generation to further understand DRD and support MTM Vision’s work. Together, we are setting a course to fundamentally change our understanding of vision loss from diabetes and how it is treated.”
Dr. S. Robert Levine, founder and CEO of MTM Vision provided an update on the news around the consortium, saying, “Here at our third Annual Global Symposium on curing vision loss from diabetes, which coincides with Diabetic Eye Disease Awareness Month, we are delighted to announce that Boehringer Ingelheim has joined us as a founding member of our MTM Vision Consortium. This Symposium provides a platform for the convening of global leaders dedicated to accelerating the development of innovative therapies to prevent and cure vision loss from diabetes. Boehringer Ingelheim’s commitment to our pre-competitive Consortium marks a pivotal moment along our path to ensure better patient outcomes by advancing research and sharing critical data. This will significantly strengthen our efforts to catalyze the development of new methods to diagnose and treat diabetic retinal disease earlier, which may preserve vision for millions of people at risk.”1
