Research experience

The IMO and its specialists have participated in more than 40 national and international clinical trials and, in many of them, it was the only leading Spanish clinic involved.

The IMO’s vocation is the application and creation of pioneering and safe treatments and discoveries in the field of ophthalmology. Over the last two decades, the IMO has collaborated on more than 40 clinical trials, usually phase III to test the efficacy of experimental treatments and phase IV to discover new data and indications for already marketed therapies.

One line of research that it has championed and which has produced significant results is the study of intraocular therapy for retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. After demonstrating excellent results as a complement to or substitute for surgery, certain drugs injected directly into the interior of the eye have, in many cases, greatly improved visual outcomes and the quality of life of patients, representing a major breakthrough in modern ophthalmology and showing even greater potential for the future.

The search for effective and increasingly less invasive solutions has also guided research and refinement of techniques in the field of the cornea and refractive surgery, as well as glaucoma and oculoplastics.

Assurance of safety and quality

To foster the development of projects to drive these advances, speed up the procedures required for the submission of clinical trial proposals and ensure strict compliance with current regulations, the IMO has had its very own Clinical Research Ethics Committee (CREC)  since 2006.

It also became a member of the European Vision Institute Clinical Research Network (EVICR) in 2016, testament to the clinic’s commitment to the highest standards of quality and excellence in clinical trials in accordance with standardised protocols and international good clinical practice guidelines.

Membership of the EVICR is a way of accessing current clinical research projects and establishing synergies with the hundred or so entities that make up the platform, thereby enabling the IMO to consolidate itself at the forefront of ophthalmology research.

Laura González, coordinator of the IMO’s clinical trials

IMO Foundation's boost

The scientific spirit that has always characterised the IMO was boosted in 2009 with the creation of the IMO Foundation, whose aim was to drive the clinic’s growing research work and spearhead a new era of commitment to genetics through its molecular biology laboratory.

As a result, it is possible to contribute to the future design and application of gene therapies in parallel with the study of other alternatives to combat blindness in the next decade, such as the retinal chip and new pharmacological treatments.

Today, many advances that are significantly improving the sight and quality of life of many people are now being applied using pioneering techniques. But many diseases are still difficult to diagnose and remain untreatable. The goal of the IMO Foundation is to solve these problems.

Dr Borja Corcóstegui, president of the IMO Foundation

Dr Corcóstegui

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