An artificial intelligence company and a collaboration between four UK-based sight loss charities has found that a number of existing drugs could possibly reduce sight loss from age-related macular degeneration.

Action Against AMD, formed of the Macular Society, Scottish War Blinded, Fight for Sight and Blind Veterans UK, partnered with the artificial intelligence company BeneloventAI to conduct the research.

The artificial intelligence platform ‘Benevolent Platform’ was used to review research consisting of millions of scientific papers, clinical trials, and other information related to AMD, with a view to identifying potential treatments.

This research identified seven drugs that are either in development, or already being used to treat other conditions, could potentially be repurposed to treat macular degeneration. Action Against AMD plan to take the learnings from the project to prioritise which of the potential treatments should be investigated.

The Chief Executive for Action Against AMD, Dr Wen Hwa Lee, said: “It’s really promising that we have identified current drugs that may have a positive effect on macular degeneration. Our next step will be to confirm which of these drugs have the potential to slow progression of the disease and reduce sight loss for people with this condition.”

Sources:

1.News Medical:
Artificial Intelligence.

2.Pharmatimes:
AI could identify existing drugs to help eye disease.