Boehringer Ingelheim and ZEISS Medical Technology have entered into a long-term strategic collaboration aimed at developing predictive analytics, facilitating the early identification of eye disease and the preservation of vision for individuals grappling with severe eye disease. 

Why It’s Notable: 

• The number of people suffering from vision loss is expected to rise and can be attributed to ageing populations and widening health inequity. Undiagnosed and untreated retinal diseases can have a profound impact on people’s lives, potentially leading to isolation, loss of independence, depression, and diminished quality of life. Diagnosis of eye disease often occurs too late to prevent vision loss, and for numerous conditions, effective treatments remain unavailable. 

• The primary goal of this collaboration is to identify and treat eye diseases before irreversible damage occurs, a threat currently faced by over 300 million individuals worldwide. To achieve this, the partnership will bring together the companies’ mutual backgrounds in ophthalmological technology, data analytics, algorithms, and the development of treatments to detect early and treat retinal diseases. 

Industry Implications:

• The partnership will focus on the identification of markers of early disease stages through ZEISS Medical Technology’s cloud-connected devices and AI-assisted analysis of image data sets. This will provide a foundation for conducting clinical studies aimed at developing more individualised and precise treatments for the initial phases of chronic retinal diseases. It will also enhance the ability to detect and predict these conditions earlier, paving the way for preserving vision through innovative treatment approaches.

• The partnership may signify a shift towards greater utilisation of AI for early detection and precision treatment of eye diseases. Over the past decade, Boehringer Ingelheim’s proactive approach in this space has led to a diverse pipeline focusing on addressing retinal conditions, as well as leading to several notable partnerships Inflammasome Therapeutics and CDR-Life. Meanwhile, ZEISS is a well established medical technology company, with extensive experience in ophthalmology. Going forward, embracing these types of partnerships will enable diversification of expertise, which can be not only difficult to replicate in-house, but can accelerate breakthroughs and transform the lives of patients. 

Read the news story here.