Announcement: the TechCrunch Disrupt stage
Science Corporation CEO Max Hodak took the stage at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference on October 13, 2026 and announced that the company's vision-restoring chip, PRIMA, has been fitted to the first patient with Stargardt disease. Stargardt disease is a hereditary condition that gradually destroys central vision. According to the company, this is the first use of the PRIMA system in a patient diagnosed with Stargardt's — the technology's first step into a new patient group. Hodak spoke about it on the conference stage, in front of attendees — the news was thus announced publicly.
The announcement is confirmed by two independent sources: a post on the company's official news page — science.xyz — and a TechCrunch article. Both sources record Hodak's on-stage statement and confirm that the implant was fitted to a patient with Stargardt disease specifically. The news is therefore confirmed two ways — by the company's official announcement and by an independent publication. The fact that the statement was made on the TechCrunch Disrupt stage means the company announced it openly before a wide audience.
How the system works
The PRIMA system consists of a tiny two-millimeter implant and special camera-equipped glasses. The implant is placed at the back of the eye during a one-hour surgical procedure and works together with the glasses as a single system. At just two millimeters, the implant is small enough to be placed at the back of the eye in a relatively short, one-hour procedure.
After surgery, the patient gains a small but high-contrast black-and-white central field of vision. The second part of the system is the special camera-equipped glasses; the implant and glasses together form a single system. Vision is restored not in color but as a high-contrast black-and-white image, appearing as a narrow band in the central area. This way of seeing is described in the TechCrunch article as follows:
"looking through a straw" — TechCrunch
In other words, the patient sees as if looking through a narrow tube — a straw. The narrow field of view is the system's current limitation. Science Corporation has said it aims, in its next-generation device, to widen that field and bring it closer to natural visual acuity.
The first patient: the Sydney experience
The first Stargardt patient received the implant in May 2026 at Sydney Eye Hospital in Sydney, Australia. The surgery was performed as part of a clinical trial called PRIMAlia (registry number NCT07266584) — the implant was placed under medical supervision within an officially registered clinical study.
According to Science Corporation, the rehabilitation that began after the implant was fitted quickly produced results: at the first session the patient could see a single letter, at the second they read an entire word. The sessions took place after the implant was fitted, and their results are reported in the company's official announcement. Moving from a letter to a word within the first two rehabilitation sessions was one of the announcement's main highlights and showed the system working in Stargardt patients.
This result is especially significant for Stargardt patients, because the disease currently has no approved treatment. Around 150,000 people worldwide have lost their sight to this disease — for them, any restored vision is important news.
European experience and next steps
The PRIMA system had been tested in practice before its first Stargardt use: it is already commercially available in Europe for patients diagnosed with geographic atrophy. That shows the technology is in clinical use.
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine analyzed the results of 38 patients with geographic atrophy. According to the study, 84% of them reported being able to read letters, numbers, and words after 12 months. The figure confirms the PRIMA system's long-term effectiveness — over a year of observation.
The company is now preparing for the next stage: a next-generation device is planned to be tested in humans next year. According to Science Corporation, the new device is designed to widen the field of view and bring it closer to natural visual acuity — a step toward eliminating the current limitation of the system, the "straw vision".
About Stargardt disease
Stargardt disease is a hereditary eye condition that gradually destroys central vision. The disease currently has no approved treatment. Around 150,000 people worldwide have lost their sight to this disease.
