There are two main reasons for this:
1. Despite 16 years of intensive research, groundbreaking medical progress has unfortunately failed to materialise.
2. Our work has been hampered by the innovation-hostile climate of Europe's rigid regulatory and health systems.
The only good news is that Retina Implant AG has sufficient financial resources to ensure that the company can close down in an orderly and responsible manner. This is the expressed wish of the shareholders. After all, research work on retinal prosthetics is likely to continue in the university environment without our involvement.

Retina Implant AG started in 2003 with a great vision. The company's goal was to develop a treatment for the previously incurable disease retinitis pigmentosa. With intensive research, development and sales efforts, it created the extraordinary technological products of the subretinal visual chip RETINA IMPLANT Alpha AMS and the OkuStim system for transcorneal electrical stimulation. The retinal implant in particular received the highest recognition worldwide.

Although the majority of patients involved in the studies perceived their experience with the retinal implant as positive, the results achieved ultimately fell short of expectations. In the end, it was too little to enable greater participation in society.

Only with comprehensive reimbursement of healthcare costs can therapies be made sustainably accessible to those affected. However, the approval procedures in the individual countries, especially in Germany, proved to be too bureaucratic and laborious.

Retina Implant AG is in an orderly phase of closure and is doing its utmost to ensure that its clinical partners and attending doctors continue to support current implant and therapy users as best they can.

The decision to end our business was a very, very difficult one for us. Especially with regard to people suffering from retinitis pigmentosa and our dedicated staff. We have all worked hard and with passion to make life easier for blind people. We are all disappointed and sad that we have not managed to succeed to the extent we had all hoped. We would like to thank all patients and partners for their trusting cooperation. Irrespective of the closure, we will work together with the Supervisory Board within the scope of our means to ensure that the further scientific work can be continued as a research project.