CORNEA_project is a biotech firm set up in Barcelona in 2015 by its two founders, Pere del Campo and Sigfrid Borràs, two renowned ophthalmology experts with 50 years’ experience in the industry.

They set up the company to develop a multiplex Point of Care platform capable of using biomarkers to diagnose ocular pathologies in their early stages, thereby avoiding the blindness and impaired vision normally caused by such diseases. Globally, 285 million people have impaired sight due to ocular pathologies such as glaucoma, keratoconus and age-related macular degeneration, while 39 million have been declared legally blind.

Given the founders’ expertise in refractive surgery and the important business model and market niche observed, the company’s first aim is specifically to address the problems inherent in detecting subclinical keratoconus. This is a relatively unknown disease that is nevertheless the second most frequent reason for corneal transplants in the world and, if undetected, it represents a serious contraindication for refractive surgery to treat myopia, hypermetropia or stigmatism.

Our goal is to lead the field in biomarker diagnosis, offering the diagnosis of keratoconus and subsequently adding new markers, which have already been identified, to diagnose other pathologies such as glaucoma, dry eye or age-related macular degeneration.

The company has a great team to carry out both its R&D and also the business side of the company. Its founding partners are renowned entrepreneurs in the ophthalmology sector with more than 50 years’ experience, leading the European and American markets for keratoconus and refractive surgery. Its scientific team has an extensive background in research, biomarkers and PoC.

CORNEA also has an excellent medical team for its clinical trials, such as Clinica Barraquer in Barcelona, Trias i Pujol in Badalona and MEEI from Harvard Medical School in Boston.