RestoreVision at the 8th European Aniridia Conference
This April, the city of Sofia, Bulgaria, welcomed the global aniridia community for the 8th European Aniridia Conference (EAC) – a gathering held every two years where patients, doctors and researchers come together to share knowledge and push for better treatments.
Over three days (17–19 April), 95 people attended from all over the world – including 25 experts from Europe, North America and Asia, and patients or family members from 23 countries. It was, in the words of the organisers, “an international celebration of collaboration and hope.”
RestoreVision was proud to be part of it. Our Patient Engagement Leads Barbara Poli (President, Aniridia Europe) and Ivana Kildsgaard (Board Member, Aniridia Europe) were among the organisers and lead researcher Professor Neil Lagali (Linköping University) joined as a panellist, contributing his expertise to discussions on new treatment approaches and care guidelines for aniridia.
The Research Landscape on Aniridia: Reasons for Hope
The scientific programme painted an encouraging picture of a field shifting from supportive care toward biologically targeted therapies. Several breakthroughs stood out:
Stem cell therapies are becoming real. Cultivated Oral Mucosal Epithelial Transplantation (COMET), which uses cells from a patient’s own mouth to rebuild the corneal surface, showed meaningful benefit – with one aniridia patient achieving a clear central cornea one year post-treatment. Even more promising, an iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cell) approach in Japan – where a patient’s own cells are reprogrammed into stem cells and transplanted onto the eye – demonstrated corneal clarity at 5 years of follow-up, with a 12-patient multicentre trial now planned, including aniridia patients. These results are early, but they point in a hopeful direction.
Gene therapy is moving beyond theory. A CRISPR-based strategy was presented that aims not to edit DNA directly, but to activate the healthy remaining copy of PAX6 – the gene affected in aniridia – potentially delivering a safer, repeatable dose directly to the cornea.
Corneal organoids are accelerating drug discovery. Researchers are now creating tiny “mini corneas” from aniridia patient cells, allowing them to test therapies on disease-like tissue before human trials – speeding up the path from research to real-world use.
Simpler therapies may help sooner. Insulin eye drops and losartan – a widely available drug that targets the process of corneal fibrosis, the gradual loss of transparency that can affect aniridia patients – showed encouraging results for improving corneal health, offering accessible options while longer-term therapies are developed.
Glaucoma – one major threat in aniridia – management is improving. New minimally invasive surgical approaches (including the transscleral XEN technique) and newer medication classes such as ROCK inhibitors are expanding options for aniridia patients at risk of sight-threatening pressure increases.
The overarching message: multiple approaches – regenerative medicine, gene activation, pharmacology, precision medicine – are advancing simultaneously, a reliable signal that a field is moving from understanding disease to improving patient outcomes.
Looking Ahead
The EAC reminded us why this kind of international and multidisciplinary gathering matters so much. When researchers, doctors and patients work side by side, progress happens faster – and it stays grounded in what really matters to the people living with the condition.
RestoreVision is proud to contribute to that work – not only by attending, but by ensuring the patient perspective is present where decisions are shaped and research directions are set. We are proud to closely collaborate with Aniridia Europe and bridge the gap between between science and lived experience.
And the next milestone is already on the horizon: the 9th European Aniridia Conference will take place in Oslo in 2028. We can’t wait to see what the field will have achieved by then.
Read the full insights from the 8th EAC at aniridiaconference.org/eac2026