IIT Kanpur partners with Reliance Life Sciences to revolutionise gene therapy for hereditary eye diseases

The gene therapy technology from IIT Kanpur will be further developed as an Indigenous Product by Reliance Life Sciences

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has licensed a technology to Reliance Life Sciences that has the potential to revolutionise the field of gene therapy, especially for many genetic eye diseases. There are many inherited disorders caused by a faulty gene. ‘Gene Therapy’ is a way to replace the faulty gene with a functional version of the gene to treat such disorders. This marks the first time that a gene therapy related technology has been developed and transferred from an academic institution to a company in India. The gene therapy technology from IIT Kanpur will be further developed as an Indigenous Product by Reliance Life Sciences.

The technology licensing agreement was formally signed between IIT Kanpur and Reliance Life Sciences at a MoU exchange ceremony in the presence of several dignitaries, including Prof. Abhay Karandikar (Director, IIT Kanpur), and K. V. Subramaniam (Licensee & President of Reliance Life Sciences). Others present on the occasion included Prof. Ankush Sharma (PIC, Innovation & Incubation), Prof. Amitabha Bandyopadhyay (Head, BSBE Department), Prof. Jayandharan Giridhara Rao (Dept. of BSBE), Dr Venkata Ramana (CSO) and Praveen Sharma (General Manager) of Reliance Life Sciences.

Developed by Prof. Jayandharan Giridhara Rao and Shubham Maurya from the Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering (BSBE), IIT Kanpur, the patented technology modifies the gene of an organism to treat a hereditary disorder. In this case, the site refers to a specific location on an Adeno-associated virus (AAV) (viral vector) used for gene therapy. The technology modifies this location to optimise its ability to deliver genes to the affected cells and improve its effectiveness. The technology has the ability to improve gene therapy for many hereditary diseases, especially inherited eye diseases. It has shown significant promise in correcting the vision impairment in animal models of blindness.

Prof. Karandikar said, “IIT Kanpur is committed to developing impactful technologies in the field of healthcare, and we are delighted to see the licensing of this gene therapy technology to Reliance Life Sciences. Gene therapy using viral vectors has recently emerged as a potent tool in the field of molecular medicine. We believe that this technology holds great promise for treating a wide range of hereditary eye diseases including Leber congenital amaurosis, an eye disorder that is present from birth; and Retinitis pigmentosa, a disease causing progressive sustained vision loss. At IIT Kanpur, we foresee several such impactful technologies being developed in the near future for many such genetic disorders and are excited to see the impact that it will have in the coming years. We have recently established the Mehta Family Centre for Engineering in Medicine at IIT Kanpur to pursue such areas of research.”

Subramaniam said, “We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with IIT Kanpur to further develop this important technology. Reliance Life Sciences is a research-driven, medical biotechnology company and we are thrilled to collaborate and take forward this innovative technology to commercialisation.”