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Your window into Astellas’ world of patient-centered and science-driven healthcare, as told by the experts who bring it to life.
Vision loss can affect far more than sight. When vision is at risk, people worry about losing the things that matter most – the everyday moments, independence and connections that give life meaning.
As retinal disease continues to rise worldwide, advancing new therapies for irreversible vision loss remains a key focus for Astellas. In this conversation, Jotaro Suzuki, Primary Focus Lead, Blindness & Regeneration, and Marci English, Head of BioPharma and Ophthalmology Development, discuss how ophthalmology innovation is evolving and what it takes to translate scientific breakthroughs into meaningful patient impact.
Jotaro Suzuki
Primary Focus Lead, Blindness
& Regeneration
Jotaro Suzuki: For many people, loss of vision can have a profound impact on daily life. And many causes of vision loss still have limited or no effective treatment options leaving many patients seeking new alternatives.
We believe scientific and technological innovation – such as cell and gene therapies – could address these areas of significant unmet need. And that belief has guided our long-term commitment in ophthalmology. Ultimately, our goal is not simply to advance science, but to ensure innovation translates into meaningful outcomes for patients.
Over the past decade, we have built and brought together specialized capabilities, strengthening partnerships across the ophthalmology ecosystem. With a deep understanding of disease biology and patients' needs as our starting point, we are driving forward a pipeline that focuses on new targets with cutting-edge modalities and precision approaches in underserved and difficult-to-treat diseases. Astellas has built its leading science and capabilities through purposeful, capability-driven acquisitions of Iveric Bio, Ocata, Universal Cells and Audentes.
Today, we are supporting people living with geographic atrophy by helping to slow disease progression and continuing to pursue new therapies that we hope will address unmet needs across retinal diseases.
Marci English
Head of BioPharma and
Ophthalmology Development
Marci English: We believe regenerative medicine has the potential to reshape how retinal diseases are managed in the future.
Many retinal diseases involve the degeneration or loss of important retinal cells. Our scientists are exploring whether the regenerative potential of pluripotent stem cell (PSC)-derived therapies may help address some of these underlying challenges by replacing or repairing critical cell function.
We are also using Universal Cell technology, a gene-editing approach designed to make donor cells less visible to the immune system. This may reduce the risk of immune rejection and enable broader patient access to allogeneic cell therapies.
At the same time, we are advancing adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy technologies that can deliver genetic material to support retinal cell survival and help maintain visual function.
But developing new technologies is only part of the challenge. We must also understand how each modality can best serve a particular disease and patient population. Insights from patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals and the scientific community are critical to shaping and optimizing our development strategies.
Marci English: Sometimes people think innovation begins and ends with a scientific breakthrough. In reality, turning innovative therapies into treatments that can reach patients at scale requires much more than that.
Innovation depends on an end-to-end approach that connects scientific discovery with development, manufacturing, delivery and ongoing learning. Every step matters.
That is why Astellas has intentionally built and brought together capabilities across the entire value chain. We recognize that pioneering science alone is not enough. We need the expertise, infrastructure and partnerships required to transform scientific potential into therapies that can be delivered consistently and at scale.
Jotaro Suzuki: No organization can solve complex healthcare challenges alone. Progress depends on bringing together evolving science, emerging therapeutic modalities, advanced manufacturing technologies, robotics and AI, and new endpoints that demonstrate value for patients.
That is why partnerships are such an important part of how we work.
By collaborating with researchers, healthcare professionals, technology experts and the ophthalmology community, we can learn faster, share expertise and help accelerate progress. We are particularly interested in how new technologies might support the future of cell and gene therapy, including improving manufacturing consistency and scalability.
Marci English: What gives me optimism is the momentum across the field. We are encouraged by the progress across our pipeline as we pioneer science that could bring us closer to potential treatments for people living with geographic atrophy, Stargardt-type macular dystrophies and optic neuropathy due to glaucoma.
The future will require continued learning and long-term commitment. With advances in science and technology, and with strong partnerships, we have an opportunity to continue expanding what may be possible for people affected by vision loss.
Jotaro Suzuki: At Astellas, our commitment to ophthalmology is grounded in a simple belief: science should help people keep what matters most in sight.
Through long-term investment, collaboration and an end-to-end approach to innovation, we are working to advance the future of ophthalmology and help translate scientific possibility into meaningful impact for patients.
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