Nanoscope Therapeutics, Inc. announced that the U.S Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a patent for its proprietary multi-characteristic opsin (MCO) technology platform.
Most notably: This technology is the basis for the company’s optogenetic therapeutic approach to targeting retinal disease-caused vision loss.
Can you tell me more about this approach?
We’ll start with a rundown on optogenetics, followed by this background on Nanoscope’s MCO-based science.
How about a rundown on the MCO technology platform?
We’ll be short and sweet:
What it is (and does): This optogenetic technology makes highly dense bipolar retinal cells sensitive to light (photosensitive) while preserving the visual processing circuitry—as well as bypassing or supplementing dead photoreceptors.
And with that in mind: The company is developing MCO therapeutics designed to functionalize retinal cells into becoming photosensitive (see here for its disease targets).
But more on those in a moment.
Let’s talk about the patent in question.
First filed in November 2021 and officially issued on Nov. 4, 2025, U.S. Patent No. 12459977 essentially “recognizes the company’s MCO technology platform as a novel synthetic opsin for optogenetic modulation and provides,” according to Nanoscope.
Its inventors are listed as Samarendra Mohanty, PhD, (Nanoscope’s co-founder, president, and chief scientific officer) and Subrata Batabyal, PhD (Nanocope’s director of Nonclinical Development).
- See here for a look at the actual patent.
And what’s the significance of this for Nanoscope?
The USPTO’s approval indicates acknowledgment of the platform’s “distinct attributes” that differentiate it from other optogenetic approaches—particularly by offering:
- Broad spectral sensitivity, fast kinetics, and an ability to function via ambient light activation (thus, eliminating the need for any external light amplification devices.
So what protections come with this?
For starters: An expansive protection for the platform’s vision-restoring methods in patients with retinal degenerative vision loss due to:
- Retinitis pigmentosa (RP)
- Stargardt disease
- Geographic atrophy (GA)
Additionally: The patent extends Nanoscope’s U.S. intellectual property protections through 2039 (with a possible extension pending FDA approval of any therapeutics based on the platform).
- As for outside the U.S.: The company has reportedly already secured corresponding patents in Australia and Japan (and has patents pending in China and the European Union).
How exciting! Now, can we circle back and talk about these therapeutics?
We’ll focus on Nansocope’s lead investigational asset: MCO-010 (sonpiretigene isteparvovec), a mutation-agnostic optogenetic gene therapy that uses adeno-associated viral vector serotype 2 (AAV2) to deliver an MCO transgene.
- How: Via a single, in-office intravitreal (IVT) injection (see all the details on MCO-010 here, including what sets it apart from other retinal disease treatments).
And which retinal disease is MCO-010 under clinical evaluation for?
Two, actually: RP and Stargardt disease.
But take note: Nanoscope is currently in the process of submitting a Biologics License Application (BLA) for MCO-010’s RP indication (beginning in July 2025).
- And by “in the process” we mean the BLA package is being submitted on a rolling basis, thanks to MCO-010 receiving a Fast Track designation from the FDA for its RP indication.
So what's the latest update on this front?
Oh, the BLA submission is still ongoing. In fact, Nanoscope recently reported new 3-year vision data from the phase 2b/3 RESTORE study on MCO-010 that it plans to include in the submission package.
See here for all the details on those long-term extension results, released in October 2025.
… and when does Nanoscope expect to complete its submission?
Reportedly by early 2026—bringing the company one step closer to potentially making MCO-010 the first gene-agnostic therapy that restores vision in legally blind RP patients.