Preserving Sight With a Gene Therapy Implant

In a first for an academic medical center, Duke patient receives new eye treatment

Yvette Crawley, 71, from Apex, N.C., started noticing changes to her vision around the time she turned 60. She described it as if she were “looking through a dirty window.” She was diagnosed with a rare, but debilitating, retinal disorder called macular telangiectasia type 2, or MacTel. Patients with MacTel gradually lose their central vision.

That was 2021, with no available treatment.

Crawley went to the Duke Eye Center to see Dr. Lejla Vajzovic, a professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at Duke University School of Medicine, who told her about a new therapy that was under clinical trial at the time. Crawley was hopeful that those trials would one day lead to her receiving treatment for the disease that threatened to rob her of her vision.

They did: Crawley is the first recipient at a U.S. academic medical center of a new commercially available therapy for the disorder. The FDA approved the new cell-based gene therapy – called revakinagene taroretcel-lwey – in March 2025.

The Duke Reading Center, which specializes in the analysis of retinal images, collaborated with Sina Farsiu, professor in the departments of ophthalmology and biomedical engineering, to play a pivotal role in the clinical trials that led to FDA approval for this therapy.

“Because of the research that led to this treatment, it’s going to allow me to continue to make choices in my retirement life. I’m not going to be hindered or hampered by my potential loss of vision,” said Crawley.

Vajzovic led the surgical team that implanted the cell-based gene therapy capsule at Duke Eye Center. “This implant offers real hope for patients facing vision loss because of MacTel,” said Vajzovic. “We are really allowing our patients to live fuller, more independent lives by preserving their vision.”

Learn more about how federally-funded Duke Research Saves Lives in the full press release from Duke Health.