Cordlife launches OptiQ: A first-of-its-kind corneal lenticule banking service in Singapore

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 3 March 2021 – Cordlife Group Limited, a consumer healthcare company
announced today that the Ministry of Health has issued a license permitting the
Company to launch OptiQ, a corneal lenticule banking service in Singapore.
Cordlife is the first company in Asia to let patients undergoing refractive eye
surgery using lenticule extraction method (e.g. SMILE) for myopia or
astigmatism to  cryopreserve their
corneal lenticules for potential treatment of presbyopia and other ocular
conditions in the future.

 

The
technology behind OptiQ was invented by Professors Donald Tan and Jodhbir Mehta
from Singapore Eye Research Institute (“SERI”), the research arm of Singapore
National Eye Centre (“SNEC”).

 

Ms
Tan Poh Lan, Cordlife’s Group Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director,
said: “Cordlife has accumulated 20 years of experience in the banking of
biological materials so offering the storage of corneal lenticules is a natural
extension of our services.”

 

Myopia
is an extremely common refractive error in Singapore with 82 percent of the
20-year-olds suffering from this condition — one of the highest in East Asia.

 

Newer
flapless refractive surgical procedures, such as SMILE can correct myopia or
astigmatism by extracting a tiny lenticule from each eye of the patient using a
femtosecond laser. Presently, corneal lenticules extracted during such
surgeries are routinely thrown away. Early animal and human studies have
shown that corneal lenticules may help to correct presbyopia and hyperopia
(longsightedness) as well as certain ocular conditions.

 

Presbyopia
is an age-related condition in which the eyes gradually lose the ability to
focus on objects clearly at close range. Currently, patients treat presbyopia
using reading glasses, contact lenses, or artificial inlay implantation but
this last method carries risks such as corneal inflammation, scarring and haze.
By implanting corneal lenticules, such risks can be reduced and the rate of
rejection will also be marginal due to inherent superior biocompatibility. Once
lenticule implantation is approved as a standard of care, patients who have
stored their own lenticules will have additional vision correction options.

“Almost
everyone will have presbyopia after the age of 40. We believe this advancement
in ophthalmology can help a lot of people and even bring healthcare in
Singapore to the next level,” Professor Mehta of SERI added.

 

OptiQ
is now available at SNEC and some eye clinics offering refractive eye surgery
using lenticule extraction method in Singapore.