The symposium was attended by leaders of the Ministry of Health, representatives of the Vietnam Ophthalmological Society, main eye hospitals such because the National Eye Hospital and Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital, together with a whole bunch of professors, scientists, and corneal specialists from private and non-private hospital programs in addition to universities and tutorial establishments in Vietnam and overseas.
It is uncommon to witness such a excessive stage of pleasure and consensus amongst home and worldwide scientists, the Ministry of Health, and the enterprise group, as practically 500,000 blind folks in Vietnam and nearly 6 million throughout ASEAN now stand earlier than a new alternative made potential by this breakthrough in science and know-how.
Dr. Vuong Anh Duong, Deputy Director General of the Medical Services Administration (Ministry of Health), said: “It is estimated that Vietnam has more than 500,000 people who are blind due to corneal disease, while the demand for corneal transplantation continues to increase and the availability of donor corneas remains extremely limited. Therefore, the search for alternative solutions is an urgent necessity for ophthalmology today, not only in Vietnam but also in many countries around the world”.
Through discussions with related departments inside the Ministry of Health, Dr. Vuong Anh Duong mentioned we perceive that the applying file for circulation approval of a bioengineered cornea product has been submitted to the Ministry. As such, as we speak’s symposium holds important significance, offering policymakers, significantly departments and businesses below the Ministry, with sensible, goal, and scientific proof to comprehensively consider the technical, scientific, and authorized elements of the product when contemplating its approval for circulation in Vietnam.
Drawing from the scientific actuality at Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital, Dr. Lam Minh Vinh (MD, MSc, Specialist Level II), Head of the Cornea Department, analyzed: “Among hospitalized patients, up to 90% present with corneal ulcers, and in many cases the entire cornea is ulcerated; however, because no graft tissue is available, enucleation becomes unavoidable. Over the past 13 years, the rate of enucleation at Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital has remained relatively high at 12%, reflecting the severity of corneal tissue shortage… Although transplantation techniques and professional expertise have advanced considerably, the limitation in donor corneal tissue continues to significantly reduce the chances of globe preservation and visual rehabilitation for patients”.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Xuan Cung, Head of the Cornea Department on the National Eye Hospital, said: “According to information from the Eye Bank for the 2023–2025 interval, roughly 300 corneas had been procured for transplantation surgical procedure, of which 188 had been collected in 2025 alone. However, this determine stays very modest in contrast with the steadily growing demand. The variety of sufferers blinded by corneal illness continues to build up over time, whereas corneal transplantation can’t be broadly applied as a result of restricted provide of domestically donated corneas… Therefore, there’s an pressing want for a further available supply of corneal tissue in order that corneal transplantation may be carried out every time vital, and bioengineered cornea is an efficient answer”.
In response to this challenge, VGCT and ACRO Biomedical – VGCT’s long-term partner – have proactively researched and developed bioengineered corneal technology using porcine tissue as the source material. For the first time, porcine cornea is being positioned as a medical biomaterial capable of helping blind patients regain sight, emerging as a proprietary new technology with the potential to reach across the ASEAN region.
Clinical practice has already recorded positive outcomes from this approach. Dr. Xiaoming Yao, Advisor at Shenzhen Eye Hospital (Shenzhen, China), conducted a clinical observational study on the application of porcine cornea in the treatment of infectious keratitis at Aidi Eye Hospital (Sichuan, China) in order to evaluate the feasibility, safety, and clinical efficacy of this material.
“The study was conducted on 19 patients with stromal defects involving more than half of the corneal thickness, using lamellar keratoplasty. The graft material used was decellularized porcine corneal stroma. Most successful protocols have employed a combination of methods, such as freeze–thaw cycles combined with enzymes, or osmotic treatment combined with supercritical CO2, in order to achieve a balance between efficacy and preservation of tissue structure. Follow-up results after 12 months showed a graft survival rate of 94.7%, equivalent to 18 out of 19 patients regaining functional vision. In emergency situations where donor tissue is unavailable, bioengineered cornea using decellularized porcine corneal stroma as the graft material is truly a “savior” for preserving vision, and the clinical value of this biomaterial is beyond dispute”, said Dr. Xiaoming Yao.
As a surgeon directly involved in porcine corneal transplantation, Dr. Chen Jiunn-Liang, Director of the Department of Ophthalmology at Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital (Taiwan), shared his experience from four cases of complex corneal injury.
He explained: “In these cases, the material used was decellularized porcine corneal stroma, transplanted using anterior lamellar keratoplasty. Postoperative outcomes showed that, in patients with refractory corneal ulcers at risk of perforation, the affected areas were effectively covered by an acellular corneal scaffold derived from porcine tissue. In cases of scleral calcification, previously ischemic tissue also improved after being covered by conjunctival vascularization.Compared with other graft materials, porcine cornea offers several outstanding advantages, including an abundant and readily available supply, an almost negligible risk of graft rejection, the ability to function as an inert biological scaffold, and high mechanical stability. Following treatment, all patients recovered well and reported positive outcomes.”
Analyzing the rationale for selecting porcine cornea for transplantation in humans, Dr. Dar-Jen Hsieh – Chairman and CEO of ACRO Biomedical, stated: “Donor human corneas contain donor-derived cells, which may trigger immunologic graft rejection in recipients; therefore, patients often require long-term immunosuppressive therapy. In contrast, the porcine eyeball is similar in size to the human eyeball, and the histological structure of the porcine cornea is also comparable to that of the human cornea”.
Ms. Dang Thi Tuoi, Deputy CEO of VGCT, shared that the corporate is successfully implementing the “triple helix model” (authorities–college–enterprise) below Resolution 57, in collaboration with institutes, universities, the Ministry of Health, significantly the Vietnam National Eye Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital, and quite a few ophthalmology facilities nationwide. Bioengineered cornea derived from animal tissue represents a breakthrough answer to handle the scarcity of donor corneas, opening up alternatives for visible rehabilitation for hundreds of thousands of sufferers, whereas additionally laying the inspiration for Vietnam to steadily grasp superior biomedical applied sciences.
The restoration of sight for a blind particular person just isn’t solely a medical achievement, but additionally a complete restoration of high quality of life and dealing capability, whereas easing the burden on their households. At the societal stage, this contributes to enhancing high quality of life, growing residents’ happiness index, and increasing Vietnam’s labor power, with the potential to contribute roughly 0.3-0.4% of GDP to the economic system as a portion of visually impaired people return to work.
If deployed on a nationwide scale, with synchronized participation from the “three parties,” this discipline may turn into one of many drivers contributing to the purpose of double-digit progress, significantly in high-tech and biomedical sectors.
To notice this technique, shut collaboration from state administration businesses, hospitals, scientists, and worldwide companions can be important to finish the ecosystem and speed up large-scale deployment throughout Vietnam and ASEAN as rapidly as potential./.