Science Corporation has achieved a major milestone in vision restoration. CEO Max Hodak announced that the company has successfully implanted its PRIMA vision-restoring chip into its first patient with the Stargardt disease implant — a hereditary eye condition that progressively destroys central vision. Hodak, the former president and co-founder of Neuralink, shared the news onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt, explaining how the company’s work with PRIMA fits into its broader pursuit of a brain-computer interface (BCI).
“The retina is part of the central nervous system,” Hodak said. “We consider cochlear implants, retinal prostheses, motor prostheses, these are all different types of BCIs.”
His vision extends beyond using BCIs simply to control computers. Instead, he sees them expanding into a wide range of medical technology applications.
Understanding Stargardt Disease
Stargardt disease is an inherited condition that affects the outer retina. It causes the gradual death of the eye’s light-sensing cells while potentially sparing the inner retina — the part that passes visual signals to the brain. The disease creates a central blind spot that enlarges over time. Approximately 150,000 people worldwide have lost vision due to Stargardt disease, which is currently considered incurable.
The condition affects the outer retina, causing the gradual death of the eye’s light-sensing cells while potentially sparing the inner retina. This is the part that passes visual signals onto the brain.
How the PRIMA Implant Works
The PRIMA implant is commercially available in Europe for patients who have lost their sight to geographic atrophy, an advanced form of age-related macular degeneration. Science Corporation believes its approach can be applied to multiple diseases, including Stargardt disease.
The device functions like artificial photoreceptors. Patients undergo an hourlong procedure that places a small chip in the back of their eye, where the photoreceptors have degenerated. They then wear camera-equipped glasses that transmit a view of the world to the chip.
First Patient Results
The first Stargardt patient received the PRIMA implant in May as part of an ongoing trial at Sydney Eye Hospital in Australia. During the patient’s first rehabilitation session, he saw a letter. By the second session, he was able to read a word.
Current Limitations and Future Goals
Hodak was candid about the device’s present capabilities. The implant measures two millimeters by two millimeters and sits in the back of the eye.
“It’s like looking through a straw,” he said. “It is not a big field of view color vision. It’s a patch in their central vision where … it’s black and white, but it is sharp. It’s high-contrast sharp, and so they can see a couple letters at a time.”
The next step involves enlarging the field of view. To create a bigger implant, the company must address the curvature of the eye while making electrodes smaller to approach native levels of detail.
“I think we have a clear path,” Hodak said. “There’s a ‘next generation’ that’s being worked on that’ll be in humans in the next year, and over the next five years, I think we’ll be able to get pretty close to native acuity.”
Science Corporation’s Broader BCI Ambitions
Hodak founded Science Corporation in 2021 after leaving Neuralink. The company initially outlined plans to develop advanced neural engineering and BCI technology. However, it first wants to prove its methods work and build a sustainable business — which is why it started with vision restoration for the visually impaired.
A Different Approach to Brain Implants
Science Corporation’s BCI technology differs from Neuralink’s approach. The company has said its sensor will be implanted inside the skull and rest on top of the brain, unlike a Neuralink device that is inserted directly into brain tissue.
The company believes this device could help address neurological conditions, such as monitoring neurological activity in patients with brain tumors.
Future Clinical Applications
Hodak hinted at broader plans. “In the near term, we’re going to be applying our first clinical indication, which hasn’t been announced publicly, is a neurodegenerative disease that everybody’s heard of,” he said. “We’re also looking at stroke.”
He explained that if part of the brain has died due to stroke, getting connections into the deep brain in two different areas could allow adding new cortical areas — something not possible with conventional electrodes.
“Longer term, the long-term mission of the company is to understand how the brain creates the mind and to learn to build engineered brains,” Hodak said.
The Long-Term Vision for BCIs
Hodak noted that Science Corporation believes many people will eventually use some kind of BCI. While the company isn’t designing for “healthy 40-year-olds,” he said it believes people will eventually need some kind of BCI by the age of 60 or 70.
“We want to figure out how do we extend not just lifespan but health span,” Hodak said.
What This Means for Stargardt Patients
For the approximately 150,000 people worldwide who have lost vision to Stargardt disease, the PRIMA implant represents a potential path forward where none currently exists. While the current device offers limited but sharp central vision, the company’s roadmap includes next-generation implants expected in humans within the next year and continued improvements over the next five years.
The trial at Sydney Eye Hospital continues, and Science Corporation’s progress will be closely watched by researchers, patients, and the broader medical technology community. This Stargardt disease implant marks an important step toward restoring meaningful vision for those affected by this currently incurable condition.
