The Medical Research Council (MRC) Development Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS) has announced an award of £1.2 million funding for clinical research by Moorfields Eye Hospital and the Comprehensive Clinical Trials Unit (CCTU) at UCL.  

The study is being led by Mahi Muqit, consultant vitreoretinal surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital and honorary clinical lecturer at UCL. The study is an early phase drug discovery that will explore a novel treatment for retinal detachment surgery complicated by scar tissue known as Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy (PVR). This novel use of a well-established drug has the potential to reduce or eliminate the retinal scarring from PVR and reduce sight loss. 

RNIB Connect Radio’s Toby Davey caught up with Mahi Muqit to find out more about this new retinal detachment clinical trial and began by asking Mahi to explain what actually is a detached retina and how the detachment affects people’s vision. 

Mahi went on to outline how the drug used in the new trial will help to reduce retina scarring which will in tern help to reduce some patients vision loss. 

The retinal detachment clinical trial is due to be set up late 2024 with details being signed posted on the Biomedical Research Centre pages of the Moorfields website with the hope of the study starting in January 2025.

More details about Moorfields Eye Hospital can be found on their website - https://www.moorfields.nhs.uk

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