vision-loss
(3)
CNIB Quit Trying to Be Everything - and Built a Better Machine for Independence
The 108-year-old Canadian institution learned that serving people with sight loss did not mean owning every service. Its sharper model now combines donations, retail, training, guide dogs and advocacy - a playbook for any mission-driven organization that has grown too broad.
Beacon Therapeutics
Beacon Therapeutics is a clinical-stage ophthalmic gene therapy company building AAV-based treatments to preserve and restore sight for people with rare and prevalent retinal diseases that cause blindness. Formed in 2023 by Syncona around the assets of Applied Genetic Technologies Corp (AGTC) and complementary science from the University of Oxford, its lead program, laru-zova (AGTC-501), is a one-time gene therapy for X-linked retinitis pigmentosa now in registrational trials, with additional programs targeting geographic atrophy (dry AMD) and cone-rod dystrophy.
Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Neurotech Pharmaceuticals is a Cumberland, Rhode Island biotechnology company that develops long-acting therapies for chronic retinal diseases using its Encapsulated Cell Technology (ECT) platform - a tiny implant of genetically engineered cells that continuously secretes a therapeutic protein inside the eye. In March 2025 its lead product ENCELTO (revakinagene taroretcel-lwey, formerly NT-501/Renexus) became the first and only FDA-approved treatment for macular telangiectasia type 2 (MacTel), delivering ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) to slow the loss of photoreceptors.