Vancomycin-associated Hemorrhagic Occlusive Retinal Vasculitis
Worsening PDR in Eyes Treated With PRP or Ranibizumab Baseline Choroidal Thickness as a Predictor for CRVO Treatment Outcomes Treat-and-extend IVA Regimen for Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy Angiopoietin-Like 4 Correlates With Intravitreal Ranibizumab Response in nAMD Oral Bisphosphonates & Risk of Wet AMD Acute Posterior Multifocal Placoid Pigment Epitheliopathy on OCTA |
RESEARCHERS DEVELOP CELL CULTURE SYSTEM FOR AMD An international research team from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, University College London and Queens University Belfast designed a cell culture model that could aid development of earlier treatment strategies for age-related macular degeneration. In research published in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, researchers reported that retinal pigment epithelium cells removed from a pig eye can encompass all the major constituents of drusen and hydroxyapatite when the cells are grown on specific surfaces. This model confirms the hypothesis that RPE cells in early AMD are functional, and that the condition of Bruch’s membrane, where retinal pigment epithelium cells grow, is likely to be essential for drusen formation. The team expects that a reproducible and valid model system will be an important step in determining what drusen molecules, and what changes in RPE cells living over drusen, promote advancement to late stages of AMD. Read more. Source: UAB News, February 2017 AGTC & Bionic Sight to Develop Optogenetic Therapy Applied Genetic Technologies entered into a strategic research and development collaboration with Bionic Sight, a company in the emerging field of optogenetics and retinal coding. Using optogenetics to stimulate healthy cells in the retina and Bionic Sight's neuroprosthetic device to stimulate the cells with the retina's neural code, the companies seek to restore normal neural signaling to individuals with visual deficits or blindness due to retinal disease. Read more. Source: AGTC, January 2017 MEIRAGTX GIVES UPDATES ON OCULAR GENE THERAPY PROGRAMS MeiraGTx announced treatment at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London of the first patient in its clinical study for achromatopsia due to mutations in CNGB3 gene. The AAV-mediated gene therapy study design for CNGB3 deficiency is an open-label, multicenter, Phase I/II dose-escalation trial. In addition, the company successfully completed dosing of patients in the second cohort of its clinical trial for Leber's Congenital Amaurosis with RPE65 mutations, also at Moorfields. Read more. Source: MeiraGTx, February 2017 GENSIGHT RECEIVES ORPHAN DRUG DESIGNATION FOR GS030 IN RETINITIS PIGMENTOSA GenSight Biologics was granted orphan drug designation for the company’s product candidate GS030 for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa. GS030 is currently undergoing a Good Laboratory Practices regulatory toxicity study and is expected to enter the clinic with a Phase I/II clinical trial in retinitis pigmentosa patients in the third quarter, subject to toxicity results and future regulatory review. The ODD status provides GenSight with incentives and benefits in the United States, including a seven-year period of market exclusivity if approved for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa. Read more. Source: GenSight Biologics S.A., January 2017 ICONIC PRESENTS PHASE IIA EMERGE TRIAL RESULTS The results of Iconic Therapeutics’ EMERGE trial, a Phase IIa- randomized, double-masked, multi-dose study of the drug candidate ICON-1 in wet age-related macular degeneration, were presented for the first time at the Angiogenesis, Exudation, and Degeneration meeting in Miami, on Feb.11. The trial design included assessment of outcomes to measure lesion growth and leakage. The six-month, active-controlled, multicenter study included 88 individuals with newly diagnosed disease. Read more. Source: Iconic Therapeutics, February 2017 BIOTIME EXPANDS OPHTHALMOLOGY PORTFOLIO WITH UPMC AGREEMENT BioTime acquired global rights to the University of Pittsburgh’s Medical Center Innovation Institute’s ophthalmology-related intellectual property assets. This includes technology developed in collaboration with BioTime scientists involving methodologies to develop three-dimensional retinal tissue derived from human pluripotent stem cells for implantation in individuals with advanced stages of retinal degeneration. Read more. Source: BioTime, February 2017 ALIMERA’S ILUVIEN RECEIVES REIMBURSEMENT STATUS IN ITALY Alimera Sciences announced Iluvien received a pricing and reimbursement decree for Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco in January. The decree changed the reimbursement status of the sustained-release intravitreal implant from Class C, in which the patient covers the cost of the treatment, to Class H, with a restriction to patients with an artificial lens implanted. In Italy, Iluvien will be hospital-administered and is expected to be fully reimbursed for patients who have previously undergone cataract surgery. Read more. Source: Alimera Sciences, February 2017 SURGICAL EYE ROBOT PERFORMS PRECISION-INJECTION IN RVO PATIENT Surgeons at the University Hospitals Leuven (Brussels, Belgium) were the first to operate using a surgical robot on a patient with retinal vein occlusion. The robot uses a needle of roughly 0.03 mm to inject a thrombolytic drug into the retinal vein of the patient. KU Leuven developed the robot and needle specifically for this procedure. The successful operation showed it was technically possible to safely dissolve a blood clot from the retinal vein with robotic support. A Phase II trial now must show the clinical effect. Researchers from the University Hospitals Leuven and KU Leuven are studying retinal vein cannulation, an experimental treatment that addresses the cause of RVO by removing the blood clot in the retinal vein. Read more. Source: KU Leuven, January 2017 GROWTH FACTOR SHOWN TO PROTECT RETINA IN EARLY DIABETES Researchers from the Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear have shown that a slight increase in transforming growth factor beta, present in preclinical animal models with diabetic eye disease, protects retinal blood vessels from diabetic retinopathy. Their findings, published online in the American Journal of Pathology, may lead to targeted therapeutics that delay or prevent the development of the disease. In light of these findings, the study authors advise physicians to use caution when employing TGF-β blocking as a therapy for diabetes. Read more. Source: Massachusetts Eye and Ear, February 2017 MALLICK JOINS SHIRE AS VP & GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT LEAD FOR CLINICAL DEVELOPMENT Sushanta Mallick joined the Shire Ophthalmics team as vice president and global development lead for clinical development, Ophthalmics. Mallick has more than 20 years of experience in ophthalmology research and development and has made significant contributions in the development of drugs in the areas of wet AMD, dry eye and inherited retinal diseases. Mallick most recently worked at Aerie Pharmaceuticals as vice president of clinical research/glaucoma. Prior to that, he was vice president of research and development at QLT, where he led the company’s R&D activities and directed development of oral synthetic retinoid as an orphan drug in inherited retinal diseases LCA and RP. Mallick also spent 19 years at Alcon, where he held positions including senior clinical research scientist and associate director of development. Source: Shire Ophthalmics, January 2016 |
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