Romu Corbau
Chief Scientific Officer Adverum
Seminars
Ophthalmology faces a persistent challenge: what works in animals often fails in humans. As delivery technologies grow more complex and regulatory expectations tighten, the gap between preclinical success and clinical relevance is widening. Especially in drug-device combinations, anatomical mismatch and data inconsistency are delaying or derailing promising innovations.
- Where should we be selecting larger, more appropriate models for ocular implants and injectables, and where do small animals still offer value for early screening?
- How are companies navigating the limitations of conventional models when testing delivery systems and what do regulators actually expect for safety and efficacy data?
- Why is there a lack of transparency and shared learning across early-stage studies and how industry leaders are beginning to bridge the gap?
AI is everywhere but how useful is it really in the context of ophthalmic drug delivery? This roundtable brings together developers, modelers, and formulation scientists to explore where AI is starting to make an impact, what problems it may solve in the future, and where the technology is still ahead of the data.
- Where is AI genuinely helping today from polymer–drug matching to analyzing drug release profile predictions?
- How close are we to using AI to predict sustained-release performance and polymer selection without running multi-month studies?
- What are the biggest data gaps (even for widely used materials like PLGA) holding AI back from broader utility?
Despite major advances in ocular drug delivery, one of the biggest challenges remains human behaviour, the burden of compliance only grows. This panel explores how clinical design, technology innovation, and long-acting delivery platforms are being used to overcome the realities of poor adherence.
- Why do non-invasive approaches like eye drops still fail, despite being preferred by patients? What are the limits of patient compliance in real-world use?
- How can we reduce injection burden when chronic treatment still demands frequent visits? Is specialist training part of the problem?
- Are tracking tools: apps, sensors, reminders effective at improving adherence?
- Can we create long-lasting kinetics without compromising safety or adding surgical complexity?
- Are regulatory and manufacturing hurdles (CMC, scale-up, sterilization) the hidden barriers to achieving durable compliance solutions?
