Sidra produces eye drops to treat ultra-rare disease
The Peninsula
A multidisciplinary team effort at Sidra Medicine, a member of Qatar Foundation, has produced country’s first plasma eye drops and treated a 10-month old Qatari child with “one-in-a-million” condition.
In early 2020, the family of the child suffering from an ultra-rare disease called plasminogen deficiency, that was causing the child’s eyes to fill with woody growths, got in touch with Sidra Medicine. The family, then in the UK, was desperate to return to Qatar given the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the UK, but were afraid that their daughter would not receive the right treatment back home. However, doctors at Sidra Medicine, the only hospital in Qatar that offers precision medicine to paediatric patients, were positive that it could offer treatment for this condition. Dr. Chiara Cugno, Director of the Advanced Cell Therapy Core at Sidra Medicine, said: “When we were contacted about this case, we were confident right from the beginning that we had the expertise available to do this.More Related News