Ocular drug and device development carries a translation problem of its own. Rodent eyes are simply too small, too fast-healing, and too anatomically different from the human eye to reliably predict how a therapy, a surgical technique, or a device will behave in the clinic. Corneal wound healing kinetics, vitreous volume, retinal vascularization, even the presence of a cone-rich visual streak, all differ enough from rodent models that promising preclinical results routinely fail to hold up once they reach human patients. Model choice, then, is not a technical detail. It is the foundation translation is built on, and the reason we believe in open models: models designed around a study’s real endpoints, not around what is standard or convenient.

This is precisely the conviction that drives our work at Versa Biomedical, a preclinical CRO built around flexible, ad hoc models. We have built a dedicated ophthalmology platform in swine, one of the large-animal models with the greatest clinical relevance for corneal and retinal disease, gene and cell therapy, surgical validation, and advanced drug delivery.

Why Swine in Ophthalmology Research?

Swine reproduce, with a degree of fidelity that few models achieve, the anatomy and physiology of the human eye. This closeness is what makes the porcine model a tool of high translational value for surgical validation, ocular drug delivery, and device testing.

• Anatomical and physiological relevance: ocular size comparable to humans, with similar retinal and corneal structure and vascularization.
• Cone-rich visual streak, a macula-relevant region that supports translational work on central vision-related disease.
• Suitability for surgical manipulation and device testing at human scale.
• Compatibility with advanced imaging and longitudinal follow-up, enabling functional and structural endpoints across the full course of a study.

Our Experience in Ophthalmology

This platform builds on a broader foundation: more than twelve years designing ad hoc preclinical models, more than two hundred projects delivered across fourteen countries, and a team of surgeons and experts who are integral to how we work, not an occasional resource we call in. Within that broader track record, our specific experience in ophthalmology includes:

• 15+ successful ophthalmology studies completed to date.
• Three ophthalmic disease-specific models, each tailored to the study’s particular endpoints and disease context.
• Advanced ocular administration routes, including subretinal, intravitreal, and suprachoroidal delivery.
• World-class ophthalmic expert support, with internationally recognized veterinary ophthalmology specialists providing clinical insight, surgical expertise, and scientific guidance across every programme.

If your programme fits within one of these lines, we are happy to talk. We are open: open to the unusual challenge, the complex study design, ready to build, together, the study your project needs, however unusual it may be.

Facilities: A Fully Equipped Ophthalmic Suite

Every ophthalmology study runs through our in-house surgical and imaging suite, built to cover the full range of endpoints from functional to structural:

Imaging & Diagnostics

• Multicolour OCT
• Retinography
• ERG (Electroretinography)
• Tonometer (IOP measurement)
• Indirect ophthalmoscope

Surgical & Procedural Platforms

• Surgical microscope
• Stereomicroscope
• Vitrectomy system
• Laser Purepoint

This combination lets us follow a single animal from surgical intervention through structural imaging and functional readout, without ever leaving our own facility.

A Model Open to Complex Studies

By combining a clinically relevant disease model, a fully equipped ophthalmic suite, and expert study design under one roof, we help our sponsors generate solid translational data for gene and cell therapies, surgical devices, and advanced ocular drug delivery strategies. If you are designing your next ophthalmology study, at Versa Biomedical we are open to discussing the challenge, however complex or unusual it may be. Open models, open futures.

Take a look at our one-pager here