Trial launches to see if app and VR can help slow children's myopia

Clinical trial start-up Lindus Health and Berlin-based digital health start-up Dopavision has launched a novel clinical trial in the UK which will look at the potential of a new therapy using an app and VR headsets to slow the progression of short sightedness, or myopia, in children.

The trial will assess the potential clinical effect of MyopiaX – a smartphone application that stimulates dopamine release in the participants’ retina whilst playing games using a virtual reality headset – in children and adolescents. The 12-month study will involve over 20 participants in the UK between the ages of 6 and 12.

The announcement follows 2022 research indicating myopia is becoming more common in the UK. The study, using people within the UK Biobank, found an almost 50% increase in the number of people diagnosed with short-sightedness born between 1965 and 1970 (29%) compared with those born between 1939 and 1944 (20%).

MyopiaX is the first treatment to enter the clinic announced by Dopavision, a company that is developing therapeutic medical devices in ophthalmology.

Lindus Health will be responsible for executing the trial in the UK, including site selection, participant recruitment, endpoint data collection, and regulatory submissions. The trial will leverage the clinical trial start-up’s clinical trial system to optimise various aspects of each trial.

Mark Wuttke, CEO of Dopavision, said: “We believe MyopiaX has the potential to be the first clinically validated myopia intervention that targets the eye’s dopamine pathway digitally. The MyopiaX-1 clinical trial is an important milestone for us, as it will provide the first clinical insights into our unique therapeutic approach to manage myopia. We are excited to see the trial launch in the UK and are delighted to have Lindus Health supporting us in this endeavour.”

Michael Young, co-founder of Lindus Health, added: “Working with Dopavision and other high-growth companies, we want to help find the next wave of breakthrough treatments. Dopavision is a healthtech pioneer developing an exciting ophthalmology therapeutic that, delivered digitally, could have a huge impact on the lives of the rising number of children affected by childhood short-sightedness. We’re thrilled to be supporting their trial in the UK, using our own innovative technology platform that will help bring new treatments to patients more quickly.”