3D MoA on AAV Gene Therapy for XLRS

Client:

Atsena logo
Atsena logo

Atsena Therapeutics is a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on leveraging the life-changing power of genetic medicine for the reversal or prevention of blindness.

Atsena Therapeutics is a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on leveraging the life-changing power of genetic medicine for the reversal or prevention of blindness.

Series A

$55M Raised

Series A

$55M Raised

Client:

Atsena logo

Project Goal

The goal was to create a scientifically accurate animation explaining how RS1 mutations lead to retinal layer separation and vision loss in X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS), while introducing Atsena’s gene therapy approach as a potential treatment.

Healthy retinal environment highlighting cell adhesion

Healthy retinal environment highlighting cell adhesion

Genetic material inside the viral vector particle

Genetic material inside the viral vector particle

Functional RS1 gene inside the cell

“Thank you very much for such a great deliverable on a very tight timeline.  This will be an enormous help in telling the Atsena story at the AAO meeting and beyond.”

“Thank you very much for such a great deliverable on a very tight timeline.  This will be an enormous help in telling the Atsena story at the AAO meeting and beyond.”

Photo of Patrick Ritschel

 Vice President of Medical Affairs
and Clinical Strategy

 Vice President of Medical Affairs
and Clinical Strategy

The Process

Animation type:

3D Animation

Project timline:

5 weeks

Review:

5 zoom calls + 4 e-mail feedback sessions

Find out which of our 26 scientific animation options works best for investor relations and communications:

Atsena Therapeutics requested a MoA animation to support investor relations and broader stakeholder communication. Our scientific team first reviewed the underlying biology and therapeutic approach before developing initial animation scripts. Following internal development, we collaborated with Atsena to refine the narrative, incorporating their feedback before moving into production. The process followed a structured pipeline—from storyboards to animatics to final renders—managed independently by Visual Science, while maintaining regular review points that allowed the client to guide direction without requiring constant involvement.

To clearly communicate both the disease mechanism of XLRS and Atsena’s gene therapy approach, we developed a hybrid visual system combining 3D medical animation of retinal environments, molecular animation, 2D graphical overlays, and live-action footage. The retinal environment illustrates schisis cavity formation, while molecular models highlight the role of retinoschisin and the impact of RS1 mutations. The therapeutic sequence focuses on clarity of delivery, showing subretinal injection, localized bleb formation, and lateral spread of the AAV capsid across the retina, connecting gene delivery to restored protein expression and visually representing retinal repair within a consistent visual language.

Outcome

The final animation provided Atsena with a clear and visually cohesive tool to communicate both the disease mechanism of XLRS and the therapeutic potential of ATSN-201. By connecting clinical context, retinal pathology, and gene therapy delivery into a single narrative, the piece supported more effective storytelling at key moments such as the AAO meeting and in broader stakeholder discussions, strengthening medical communication services.

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Global Marketing Director, Pfizer

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"Visual Science produced an excellent website with incredible imagery, working in a professional, efficient manner to create a stunning final product! They were engaged through every step of the process and were attentive to the ideas we had in mind for our website. They continue to work with us on all updates and requests in a timely and helpful manner!"

Noel Kurdi

VP, Investor Relations, Apogee Therapeutics

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Bob Nichols

VP, Corp Dev, Revolution Medicines

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“We were impressed by the Visual Science team’s ability to use exact protein structures to depict complex mechanisms in <90 seconds. The visuals are beautiful and tell a clear story.

Rosana Kapeller

President, CEO and co-founder, ROME Therapeutics

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“Visual Science has a unique ability to communicate complex science with both accuracy and visual impact. Their team combines scientific understanding with creativity, helping bring sophisticated biomedical concepts to life.”

Paul Peter Tak

President, CEO and Board Director, Candel Therapeutics

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“We were impressed by the scientific sophistication of the Visual Science team and their skill in capturing the concepts we wanted to communicate. The final video was exceptional.”

Michael Zasloff

CSO, Enterin

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“I was very impressed with scientific knowledge of the Visual Science team, which led to a fantastic visualization of the MOA of our drug. Attention to scientific details was extraordinary.”

Guru Reddy

Vice President, R&D, Unicycive Therapeutics

/10

"Visual Science was a great partner in the development and delivery of scientific animations; the combination of their understanding of the science and their artistic expertise resulted in a visually stunning and impactful video."

Lynnea Waters

Director, Scientific Communications, Apogee Therapeutics

/10

“Visual Science is a fantastic partner, capable of rendering the most complex science in compelling ways. They understood the science, and their production was excellent.”

Ravi Moorthy

VP, Head of Communications, Scorpion Therapeutics

/10

“Visual Science team has just the right blend of scientific acumen and digital animation expertise to pull off these challenging projects.”

John Hanna

CEO, Apton

/10

“We are very pleased with Visual Science — they are a very responsive group to work with and the final product is exactly what we had envisioned.”

Patrick Ritschel

CEO, Atsena Therapeutics

/10

“The scientific expertise really showed in the discussions and final products. Everybody was responsive and great to work with, and the animations were both engaging and accurate!”

Blake Aronson

Program Manager, ACS

/10

“The creativity, scientific competency and professionalism of the Visual Science team not only enabled the generation of high-quality images, but also made it a pleasure to work with them.”

Jan Smith

CSO, Biology, Revolution Medicines

/10

"Incredible animations that really help bring our science to life. I strongly recommend Visual Science!"

Josh Cirulli

VP, Medical Affairs, Apogee Therapeutics

/10

“The quality of the work from Visual Science was outstanding. They provide a bespoke service that was responsive to our requests and I would recommend them highly.”

Anirvan Ghosh

CEO, UNITY Biotechnology

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"We were impressed with the Visual Science team's attention to detail and ability to extract key messages out of a complex scientific story. Their deep understanding of the science enabled them to turn our cryo-EM structures into a beautiful visual that shows the key aspects of the bridge recombination mechanism."

Patrick Hsu

Co-Founder, Arc Institute · Assistant Professor, UC Berkeley

/10

"The Visual Science team did an outstanding job delivering beautiful MOA videos for us. The animations and attention to detail were exceptional, and their flexibility throughout the process made a huge difference."

Jen Do, Associate Director, External Sci Comm, AbbVie

Jen Do

Associate Director, External Sci Comm, AbbVie

/10

"Excellent work by the Visual Science team!"

Miguel Sobral

Associate Director, BD&Strategy, Apogee Therapeutics

/10

"Excellent work and project management."

Daniel Martins, Scientific Director, AbbVie

Daniel Martins

Scientific Director, AbbVie

/10

"Visual Science produces high quality animations to support our unique science with agility and speed. I do value their partnership and look forward to working on more projects with them."

Aparna Shetty, Lead, Scientific Communications and Content, Astellas

Aparna Shetty

Lead, Scientific Communications and Content, Astellas

/10

"The VS team was outstanding to work with on this project. From the outset, the level of communication, organization, and attention to detail was exceptional. The VS team moved a complication MoA project forward on-schedule, with scientific rigor, and the result was a beautifully composed video that distilled complex biology in a visually accurate way. I highly recommend this team."

Taylor Schreiber, CEO, Shattuck Labs, Inc.

Taylor Schreiber

CEO, Shattuck Labs, Inc.

/10

"Thank you very much for such a great deliverable on a very tight timeline. I have been doing things like this for a long time and your incorporation of the Atsena insights to this with a very fast turnaround is very much appreciated and impressive."

Edmund Doherty - Vice President of Medical Affairs | Clinical Strategy | Global People Leader, Atsena Therapeutics

Edmund Doherty

Vice President of Medical Affairs, Atsena Therapeutics

/10

"Competence and cordiality for an excellent result! We really liked quality of scripts and animations, scientific knowledge, easy communication"

Enrica Orsini, Scientific Manager, EHA

Enrica Orsini

Scientific Manager, EHA

/10

"Very responsive and efficient. Thank you!"

Brian Padden, Asset Strategy Leader, AbbVie

Brian Padden

Asset Strategy Leader, AbbVie

Contact us

/10

“Fantastic team to partner with throughout the entire process. Excellent output and management!”

Pádraig Moran

Global Marketing Director, Pfizer

/10

"Visual Science produced an excellent website with incredible imagery, working in a professional, efficient manner to create a stunning final product! They were engaged through every step of the process and were attentive to the ideas we had in mind for our website. They continue to work with us on all updates and requests in a timely and helpful manner!"

Noel Kurdi

VP, Investor Relations, Apogee Therapeutics

/10

“Excellent scientific partner and first class imagery. This team runs a tight ship and the process is clear. The tech and final product are first rate.”

Bob Nichols

VP, Corp Dev, Revolution Medicines

/10

“We were impressed by the Visual Science team’s ability to use exact protein structures to depict complex mechanisms in <90 seconds. The visuals are beautiful and tell a clear story.

Rosana Kapeller

President, CEO and co-founder, ROME Therapeutics

/10

“Visual Science has a unique ability to communicate complex science with both accuracy and visual impact. Their team combines scientific understanding with creativity, helping bring sophisticated biomedical concepts to life.”

Paul Peter Tak

President, CEO and Board Director, Candel Therapeutics

/10

“We were impressed by the scientific sophistication of the Visual Science team and their skill in capturing the concepts we wanted to communicate. The final video was exceptional.”

Michael Zasloff

CSO, Enterin

/10

“I was very impressed with scientific knowledge of the Visual Science team, which led to a fantastic visualization of the MOA of our drug. Attention to scientific details was extraordinary.”

Guru Reddy

Vice President, R&D, Unicycive Therapeutics

/10

"Visual Science was a great partner in the development and delivery of scientific animations; the combination of their understanding of the science and their artistic expertise resulted in a visually stunning and impactful video."

Lynnea Waters

Director, Scientific Communications, Apogee Therapeutics

/10

“Visual Science is a fantastic partner, capable of rendering the most complex science in compelling ways. They understood the science, and their production was excellent.”

Ravi Moorthy

VP, Head of Communications, Scorpion Therapeutics

/10

“Visual Science team has just the right blend of scientific acumen and digital animation expertise to pull off these challenging projects.”

John Hanna

CEO, Apton

/10

“We are very pleased with Visual Science — they are a very responsive group to work with and the final product is exactly what we had envisioned.”

Patrick Ritschel

CEO, Atsena Therapeutics

/10

“The scientific expertise really showed in the discussions and final products. Everybody was responsive and great to work with, and the animations were both engaging and accurate!”

Blake Aronson

Program Manager, ACS

/10

“The creativity, scientific competency and professionalism of the Visual Science team not only enabled the generation of high-quality images, but also made it a pleasure to work with them.”

Jan Smith

CSO, Biology, Revolution Medicines

/10

"Incredible animations that really help bring our science to life. I strongly recommend Visual Science!"

Josh Cirulli

VP, Medical Affairs, Apogee Therapeutics

/10

“The quality of the work from Visual Science was outstanding. They provide a bespoke service that was responsive to our requests and I would recommend them highly.”

Anirvan Ghosh

CEO, UNITY Biotechnology

/10

"We were impressed with the Visual Science team's attention to detail and ability to extract key messages out of a complex scientific story. Their deep understanding of the science enabled them to turn our cryo-EM structures into a beautiful visual that shows the key aspects of the bridge recombination mechanism."

Patrick Hsu

Co-Founder, Arc Institute · Assistant Professor, UC Berkeley

/10

"The Visual Science team did an outstanding job delivering beautiful MOA videos for us. The animations and attention to detail were exceptional, and their flexibility throughout the process made a huge difference."

Jen Do, Associate Director, External Sci Comm, AbbVie

Jen Do

Associate Director, External Sci Comm, AbbVie

/10

"Excellent work by the Visual Science team!"

Miguel Sobral

Associate Director, BD&Strategy, Apogee Therapeutics

/10

"Excellent work and project management."

Daniel Martins, Scientific Director, AbbVie

Daniel Martins

Scientific Director, AbbVie

/10

"Visual Science produces high quality animations to support our unique science with agility and speed. I do value their partnership and look forward to working on more projects with them."

Aparna Shetty, Lead, Scientific Communications and Content, Astellas

Aparna Shetty

Lead, Scientific Communications and Content, Astellas

/10

"The VS team was outstanding to work with on this project. From the outset, the level of communication, organization, and attention to detail was exceptional. The VS team moved a complication MoA project forward on-schedule, with scientific rigor, and the result was a beautifully composed video that distilled complex biology in a visually accurate way. I highly recommend this team."

Taylor Schreiber, CEO, Shattuck Labs, Inc.

Taylor Schreiber

CEO, Shattuck Labs, Inc.

/10

"Thank you very much for such a great deliverable on a very tight timeline. I have been doing things like this for a long time and your incorporation of the Atsena insights to this with a very fast turnaround is very much appreciated and impressive."

Edmund Doherty - Vice President of Medical Affairs | Clinical Strategy | Global People Leader, Atsena Therapeutics

Edmund Doherty

Vice President of Medical Affairs, Atsena Therapeutics

/10

"Competence and cordiality for an excellent result! We really liked quality of scripts and animations, scientific knowledge, easy communication"

Enrica Orsini, Scientific Manager, EHA

Enrica Orsini

Scientific Manager, EHA

/10

"Very responsive and efficient. Thank you!"

Brian Padden, Asset Strategy Leader, AbbVie

Brian Padden

Asset Strategy Leader, AbbVie

Contact us

Contact us

Visual Science is an award-winning medical animation and digital scientific communications company, trusted by leading biotech and pharmaceutical organizations since 2007, including J&J, Pfizer, Novartis, Roche, Takeda, Gilead, AbbVie, and 100+ others.

We specialize in science-grade MoA and MoD videos, medical animation, and scientific storytelling, as well as digital and AI-driven solutions for Medical Affairs, marketing, corporate communications, and investor relations.

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Visual Science is an award-winning medical animation and digital scientific communications company, trusted by leading biotech and pharmaceutical organizations since 2007, including J&J, Pfizer, Novartis, Roche, Takeda, Gilead, AbbVie, and 100+ others.

We specialize in science-grade MoA and MoD videos, medical animation, and scientific storytelling, as well as digital and AI-driven solutions for Medical Affairs, marketing, corporate communications, and investor relations.

Contacts

US toll-free

1 888 374-16-95

NY

1 516 340-37-30

Address

200 Vesey Street, 24th floor,
New York, NY 10281, USA

Social networks

LinkedIn Logo
Vimeo Logo

© 2026, Visual Science. All rights reserved.

Privacy policy & Cookie policy

  • The Telly Awards logo
  • Hermes Creative Awards Logo
  • The Communicator Awards logo
  • National Science Foundation logo
  • Science Magazine Logo
  • Viddy Awards Logo

Visual Science is an award-winning medical animation and digital scientific communications company, trusted by leading biotech and pharmaceutical organizations since 2007, including J&J, Pfizer, Novartis, Roche, Takeda, Gilead, AbbVie, and 100+ others.

We specialize in science-grade MoA and MoD videos, medical animation, and scientific storytelling, as well as digital and AI-driven solutions for Medical Affairs, marketing, corporate communications, and investor relations.

Contacts

US toll-free

1 888 374-16-95

NY

1 516 340-37-30

Address

200 Vesey Street, 24th floor,
New York, NY 10281, USA

Social networks

LinkedIn Logo
Vimeo Logo

© 2026, Visual Science. All rights reserved.

Privacy policy & Cookie policy

  • The Telly Awards logo
  • Hermes Creative Awards Logo
  • The Communicator Awards logo
  • National Science Foundation logo
  • Science Magazine Logo
  • Viddy Awards Logo

Visual Science is an award-winning medical animation and digital scientific communications company, trusted by leading biotech and pharmaceutical organizations since 2007, including J&J, Pfizer, Novartis, Roche, Takeda, Gilead, AbbVie, and 100+ others.

We specialize in science-grade MoA and MoD videos, medical animation, and scientific storytelling, as well as digital and AI-driven solutions for Medical Affairs, marketing, corporate communications, and investor relations.

Contacts

US toll-free

1 888 374-16-95

NY

1 516 340-37-30

Address

200 Vesey Street, 24th floor, New York, NY 10281, USA

© 2026, Visual Science. All rights reserved.

Privacy policy & Cookie policy

  • The Telly Awards logo
  • Hermes Creative Awards Logo
  • The Communicator Awards logo
  • National Science Foundation logo
  • Science Magazine Logo
  • Viddy Awards Logo
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