Keratoconus is a degenerative corneal disease that impairs vision and is characterized by progressive thinning of the cornea and the development of an irregular, cone-like protrusion of the cornea, typically in both eyes. As the disease progresses, vision becomes increasingly distorted. Keratoconus typically has its onset during puberty or early adulthood, and usually progresses over a 10 to 20 year period. The rate of progression and severity can vary among patients, ranging from mild astigmatism to severe loss of vision. Eyeglasses do not help the vision of these patients as the severity of keratoconus increases.
Most patients choose to wear hard contacts lenses with limited long term effectiveness.
Currently, the only permanent treatment for keratoconus is a corneal transplant. Due to the lack of permanent, nonsurgical methods to treat keratoconus, we believe that Keraform, if successfully developed, will be an attractive option to treat keratoconus. We believe Keraform, a nonsurgical system, can reshape a patient's cornea to stabilize, improve or correct keratoconus. In order to make the cornea more malleable, a proprietary formulation of hyaluronidase is injected into the stroma, the middle layer of the cornea. The hyaluronidase digests the proteoglycans that bind the collagen together in the stroma, making the cornea soft and malleable.