Restore Vision’s first review meeting

The RESTORE VISION project just wrapped up its first project review meeting, marking 18 months of hard work toward developing new treatments for rare eye diseases!
Held at important stages throughout the project, review meetings are key moments in European Commission-funded projects. These sessions bring in external experts to assess the project’s progress, discuss potential challenges, and offer advice to keep the project moving in the right direction.
In today’s meeting, the RESTORE VISION team was joined by its Project Officer, Ana Gonzalez Escudero, along with two experts in pharmaceutics and ocular research: Mireia Mallandrich Miret, Assistant Professor at the University of Barcelona, and Breandán Kennedy, Professor in the School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science at University College Dublin.
Throughout the afternoon, project leads shared the progress they have made on their research and what has been achieved so far. They also discussed some of the challenges encountered in their work, providing an opportunity for project reviewers to share their experience and expertise in navigating such challenges and helping to drive the project forward.
Some of the key highlights of today’s discussions included:
- The start of the observational study with patients with rare eye diseases at Ospedale San Raffaele
- This study is examining key therapeutic targets, proteins, genes, and pathways in RED patients to understand how they differ from healthy individuals.
- It will take place at three sites: Ospedale San Raffaele (Milan, Italy), INSERM (Paris, France), and the University of Cologne (Germany). The first patients have already been enrolled in Italy, and while INSERM and the University of Cologne will need ethics approval, both are expected to start in the coming months.
- The development of three repurposed drug formulations promising in treating eye conditions
- Led by INSERM, the team created three preservative-free, pre-med-grade formulations using Spironolactone, Aprepitant, and Losartan. After some promising results in pre-clinical efficacy trials, these formulations are now set to undergo their first safety (toxicity) testing in animals.
- The presentation of interim pre-clinical study results for nine RESTORE VISION drugs
- The six academic centres in RESTORE VISION are all actively investigating the pre-clinical efficacy of their novel and repurposed drugs, and many have shown very interesting results in pre-clinical models of rare eye diseases.
- This work will continue to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of RESTORE VISION drugs in vitro and in vivo and to investigate the mechanisms of action of these compounds.
- The presentation of the plans for six clinical trials and compassionate use tests
- These trials will evaluate the safety and initial efficacy of five RESTORE VISION drugs. Similarly to the observational study, the trials will take place at three sites: Ospedale San Raffaele, INSERM, and the University of Cologne, with the first study set to start in Q3 2025.
The meeting wrapped up with the reviewers praising the team’s progress and ambition while offering actionable advice to navigate some of the challenges ahead, from patient recruitment to regulatory affairs.
With everyone focused on achieving their goals and ultimately helping to transform the lives of patients with rare eye diseases, this meeting was a great reminder of the power of collaboration and resilience.
A big thank you to the team involved and stay tuned for more updates as the project unfolds!