A new specialist ophthalmic clinical trials centre in Melbourne will bring more international trials to Victoria and give people living with vision loss and blindness early access to sight-saving therapies.
Cerulea Clinical Trials has been established by the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) and was launched on World Clinical Trials Day by Victorian Deputy Premier and Minister for Medical Research, the Honourable Ben Carroll. The centre is supported by a AU$10million investment from Breakthrough Victoria and is expected to deliver clinical trials to more than 2,500 Victorians a year over the next decade and create 50 new jobs.
A fully owned, not-for-profit subsidiary of CERA, Cerulea Clinical Trials will specialise in advanced therapeutics to prevent and treat blindness, including gene and cell therapies, biologics, and medical devices. Cerulea will collaborate with pharmaceutical and medtech companies from around the world and be the home of clinical research conducted by scientists from CERA and ophthalmology researchers with University of Melbourne’s Department of Surgery.
“ Our aim is to build a specialist clinical trial centre ”
It will test new therapies for eye conditions such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, inherited retinal disease, and other rare genetic eye conditions, with a major focus on trialling new therapies for diseases that currently have no treatment or cure.
In the next year, Cerulea expects to begin new clinical trials on gene therapies for retinitis pigmentosa and Stargardt’s disease. Cerulea will also boost local research, ensuring that new eye treatments and devices developed in Australia are trialled here where they can benefit local patients first.
The state-of-the art centre, which houses next generation eye photography and imaging suites, vision lanes, as well as laser and treatment rooms in which therapies can be administered and monitored, is located at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital in East Melbourne. It will also expand access to the community by delivering trials via a growing network of suburban and regional eye clinics and a planned tele-trials service.
Cerulea Clinical Trials CEO Michelle Gallaher said the new centre would harness the growing investment in the global ophthalmic research market to bring more clinical trials to Australia.
“There is a growing pipeline of discovery with new medicines and devices being developed around the world and Cerulea Clinical Trials provides the perfect location to conduct these trials,” she said.
“Our aim is to build a specialist clinical trial centre that cements Victoria’s reputation as a world leader in preventing blindness and reducing the impact of vision loss.”