Diabetic eye disease, especially diabetic retinopathy, is a major cause of vision loss in adults. Among people over age 45 with diabetes, nearly 9% have diabetic retinopathy, and over 4% have already experienced vision loss because of it. Current treatments, like laser therapy or injections into the eye (anti-VEGF therapy), can slow the disease but don’t address its root causes.

Research shows that damage to key retinal cells, both neurons and glial cells, plays a major role in diabetic eye disease. Insulin has been shown to protect these cells and prevent them from dying in diabetic conditions. While insulin has been delivered through injections or eye-based methods in the past, these approaches are invasive, hard to self-administer, and come with other challenges.

This invention introduces a novel approach that uses intranasal insulin delivery to prevent and treat diabetic eye disease. By providing a non-invasive, fast-acting, and patient-friendly alternative to traditional delivery methods, this technology has the potential to improve treatment adherence, preserve retinal health, and prevent vision loss in individuals with diabetes. Unlike prior applications of intranasal insulin that focused on neurological disorders, this is the first technology to apply this delivery strategy to diabetic eye disease, opening a new therapeutic avenue for addressing an important unmet clinical need.

Researchers and commercial partners interested in advancing this technology should contact the university's technology transfer office to discuss licensing opportunities, as the university is seeking to partner with qualified entities for continued development of this technology.

Technology Overview

Current Challenges

While current treatments for diabetic eye disease, like laser therapy or injections into the eye (anti-VEGF therapy), can slow the disease, they ultiamtely don’t address its root causes. While insulin has shown to prevent damage to key retinal cells, its delivery methods are invasive and difficult to self-administer.

Our Innovation

This invention introduces an approach using intranasal insulin to prevent and treat diabetic eye disease. By delivering insulin through the nose with a nasal spray device, the treatment reaches the brain and eyes within minutes, without causing low blood sugar or affecting the rest of the body. This method is non-invasive, easy for patients to self-administer, able to bypass the liver and bloodstream, and fast-acting and targeted to the nervous system.

Although intranasal insulin has been studied for brain-related diseases like Alzheimer’s, it has never before been explored as a treatment for diabetic eye conditions. This is the first invention to apply this promising delivery method to a new area of need, offering a novel, patient-friendly solution for preventing vision loss in millions of people with diabetes.

Benefits of this Technology

  • Avoids painful and risky procedures like intravitreal injections or subconjunctival administration.
  • Can be easily self-administered at home using a nasal spray, which may improve treatment adherence and quality of life.
  • Bypasses the blood-brain barrier and reaches ocular tissues and the nervous system within minutes.
  • Does not increase peripheral insulin levels or cause hypoglycemia, unlike traditional insulin delivery.
  • Directly targets the neurodegeneration involved in diabetic eye disease.

Stage of Development

Intranasal insulin delivery has been shown to reach key retinal layers in animal models. Further in vivo studies are underway to evaluate therapeutic effects in diabetic versus non-diabetic mice.