Macular Degeneration News and Research

Latest Macular Degeneration News and Research

New system may help restore vision in eye diseases

Using tiny solar-panel-like cells surgically placed underneath the retina, scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have devised a system that may someday restore sight to people who have lost vision because of certain types of degenerative eye diseases.

14 May 2012

Bayer Yakuhin, Santen enter co-promotion agreement for EYLEA Injection in Japan

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Bayer HealthCare today announced that Bayer's Japanese subsidiary, Bayer Yakuhin, Ltd., and Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. entered into a co-promotion agreement for EYLEA aflibercept) Injection in Japan.

From Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. 8 May 2012

Cellular-level images of the living eye

The same technology used by astronomers to obtain clear views of distant stars is now being used by optometrists to perform incredibly detailed examinations of the living eye.

8 May 2012

Cheaper anti-blindness drug could save NHS £85 million annually

Avastin (bevacizumab), which is used to treat wet age-related macular degeneration – the most common cause of blindness among the elderly costs only £60 per injection. But despite trials showing it is no less effective, another drug, Lucentis, is the current official choice, even though it costs £700 per shot. Avastin is intended to treat bowel cancer, but research by the National Institute for Health Research has shown that it also works just as effectively and safely as Lucentis in treating Wet AMD.

8 May 2012

New data from Acucela’s ACU-4429 Phase 2a trial on advanced dry AMD/geographic atrophy

Acucela Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing new treatments for blinding eye diseases, announced today that the first patient data from the ACU-4429 program were presented during a poster session at The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2012 Annual Meeting.

8 May 2012

No functional difference in effects of Lucentis and Avastin on preventing vision loss

The one year results from a study into whether two drug treatments (Lucentis and Avastin), are equally effective in treating neovascular or wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD), have been reported today at an international research meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The findings will also appear online shortly in the leading journal Ophthalmology.

7 May 2012

Oral nutriceutical restores vision to otherwise hopeless patients facing permanent loss

There may be new found hope for patients whose vision is threatened when medicine injected directly into the eyes fails to cause abnormal blood vessels to recede. While injectable drugs called angiogenesis (an-gee-oh-jen-esis) inhibitors are considered a modern miracle and have become the standard of care for patients with the fast-progressive form of macular degeneration, they are not foolproof.

7 May 2012

Researchers identify new mechanism that causes choroidal neovascularization

Sloppy shipping of a donated human retina to an Indiana University researcher studying a leading cause of vision loss has inadvertently helped uncover a previously undetected mechanism causing the disease. The discovery has led researchers to urge review of how millions of dollars are spent investigating the cause of a type of age-related macular degeneration called choroidal neovascularization.

5 May 2012

Bevacizumab equivalent to ranibizumab in treating wet AMD

In a landmark drug-comparison study, Cleveland Clinic researchers found that bevacizumab (Avastin) is equivalent to ranibizumab (Lucentis) in the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) through two years.

2 May 2012

University of Kentucky researchers make major breakthrough in GA

University of Kentucky researchers, led by Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati, have made a major breakthrough in the "dry" form of age-related macular degeneration known as geographic atrophy.

27 Apr 2012

NEI awards Scripps Research $10.2M grant to develop new treatments for vision disorders

A team led by a scientist from The Scripps Research Institute has been awarded a five-year, $10.2 million grant from the National Eye Institute (NEI) to develop a new type of treatment for diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, and other common vision disorders.

23 Apr 2012

Nano-devices cross blood-brain barrier to deliver drug to treat cerebral palsy

A team of scientists from Johns Hopkins and elsewhere have developed nano-devices that successfully cross the brain-blood barrier and deliver a drug that tames brain-damaging inflammation in rabbits with cerebral palsy.

23 Apr 2012

ACT announces dosing of third patient in dry AMD Phase I/II trial

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today the dosing of the third patient in its Phase I/II trial for dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD) using retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells derived from human embryonic stem cells.

21 Apr 2012

Regenerative medicine research offers hope for the blind

The University College London researchers transplanted immature vision cells directly into the mouse retina. They noted that within weeks the cells began to integrate into the retina and the researchers, led by Prof Robin Ali in the university’s Institute of Ophthalmology, were able to show that vision began to return to the mice.

19 Apr 2012

ARVO to host presentation of results from two clinical trials on neovascular AMD

ARVO is pleased to host a presentation of the one-year results from the U.K.'s Inhibition of VEGF in Age-related Choroidal Neovascularisation (IVAN) study and the two-year results of the Comparison of Age-related Macular Degeneration Treatments Trials (CATT) trial.

19 Apr 2012

MacuCLEAR to initiate MC-1101 Phase III studies on early-stage AMD

MacuCLEAR, Inc., a clinical stage specialty pharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel solutions for vascular disorders of the eye, announced today it is beginning Phase III studies for its lead compound, MC-1101, for early-stage (Dry) age-related macular degeneration (AMD), based on positive feedback during the company's end-of-Phase II meeting with the FDA.

12 Apr 2012

Stealth announces results from three Bendavia Phase I clinical trials for mitochondrial dysfunction

Stealth Peptides Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies for diseases with unmet medical needs, announced today the results from three Phase I clinical trials of Bendavia, a novel compound that targets the mitochondrion to treat mitochondrial dysfunction, including ischemia reperfusion and microvascular injury.

9 Apr 2012

Inflammasome involved in regulating Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Scientists at Trinity College Dublin have discovered that a part of the immune system called the inflammasome is involved in regulating the development of one of the most common forms of blindness, called Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

9 Apr 2012

Regeneron, Sanofi announce clinical and regulatory update for ZALTRAP

Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Priority Review of the Biologics License Application (BLA) for the investigational agent ZALTRAP (aflibercept) concentrate for solution for infusion in combination with the irinotecan-fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) previously treated with an oxaliplatin-containing regimen.

6 Apr 2012

CovalentMedical makes Focus MaculaPro available to general public

Focus MaculaPro is a leading macular health vitamin in the United States and is sold in more retina specialists' offices than any other eye vitamin on the market. Focus MaculaPro up until now has only been available to patients through their retina specialist. Now, however, Covalent Medical has made Focus MaculaPro available to the general public.

3 Apr 2012