The following transcript has been edited for clarity.

Riad Sherif, MD: Bonjour from Montreal, Canada. I’m Riad Sherif, MD, CEO of Oculis, and I’m very happy to be here at OIS Retina. We had the opportunity this morning to provide an update on Oculis, and the main focus was neuroprotection.

Neuroprotection will most likely be the next wave of innovation in retina, and beyond. I say “and beyond” because the retina is often referred to as the balcony of the brain. Anything that demonstrates a neuroprotective benefit in the retina could potentially be translated to the brain in the future. We’re very excited to be part of that effort.

We’re also very excited about privosegtor, a product currently in development for the restorative treatment of optic neuritis. Optic neuritis is an inflammatory condition affecting the optic nerve at the back of the eye. It has important retinal implications because damage to the optic nerve axons ultimately leads to injury and death of retinal ganglion cells, which are the neurons of the retina.

This disease primarily affects young adults, with an average age of about 32 years, and approximately two-thirds of patients are women. We currently have an ongoing study called PIONEER-1 evaluating privosegtor. The product previously demonstrated very promising results in the ACUITY trial, where it consistently improved vision, with gains of approximately 18 additional letters at month 3 and 15 additional letters at month 6. It also preserved retinal structure by maintaining the ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) and reduced neurofilament levels, a biomarker associated with axonal damage.

PIONEER-1 is ongoing, and PIONEER-2 is expected to begin in the second half of this year.

Before I leave, I would like to thank Firas M. Rahhal, MD, and Maureen Linnemann for their outstanding work organizing OIS. It’s a pleasure to be here in Montreal with so many colleagues. RP