UF Scientists Eye Novel Drug Candidate With Marine Origins to Treat Vision Loss

UF College of Pharmacy researchers teamed with collaborators at SERI and at A*STAR’s Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Singapore, or IMCB, to see whether Apratoxin S4, a novel molecule based on marine cyanobacteria, could be an effective therapy in restricting abnormal blood vessel formation in the eye, which may be a potential treatment for these retinal diseases in the future.

“Apratoxin S4 could potentially address the resistance problem to standard-of-care VEGF therapy by inhibiting multiple new blood vessel forming pathways,” said Hendrik Luesch, Ph.D., a professor and chair of medicinal chemistry and the Debbie and Sylvia DeSantis Chair in Natural Products Drug Discovery and Development in the University of Florida’s College of Pharmacy.

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