Macular Degeneration News and Research

Latest Macular Degeneration News and Research

FDA grants Fast Track designation for MacuSight's Perceiva

MacuSight, a developer of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of severe ocular diseases and conditions, today announced that it has received Fast Track designation from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Perceiva, the company's proprietary ocular sirolimus product, for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME).

21 Oct 2009

NIH grant for Lpath to advance clinical development of its antibody therapeutics

The National Cancer Institute's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program has awarded Lpath (OTCBB: LPTN), the category leader in lipidomics-based therapeutics, two Phase 1 grants totaling $0.3 million. This follows a series of other SBIR grants awarded to Lpath totaling $6.9 million, including a $3.0 million Phase 2 bridge grant from the NCI awarded this past June.

21 Oct 2009

Retinal prosthesis restores partial vision to people who are totally blind

Two experimental treatments, a retinal prosthesis and fetal tissue transplant, restored some vision to people with blinding eye diseases. The findings, presented at Neuroscience 2009, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health, may lead to new treatments for the blind. Researchers also reported that an engineered protein restored vision in an animal model and identified ways to improve stem cell treatments.

21 Oct 2009

Human neural stem cells protect cone photoreceptors: StemCells preclinical data

StemCells, Inc. announced today new preclinical data showing that its human neural stem cells protect cone photoreceptors (cones) in the eye from progressive degeneration and preserve visual function long term.

20 Oct 2009

QLT receives exclusive U.S. sales and marketing rights for Visudyne therapy

QLT Inc. ("QLT" or the "Company") today announced that it has restructured its agreement with Novartis Pharma AG ("Novartis") to simplify the relationship, under which, effective January 1, 2010, it will, among other things, receive exclusive U.S. rights to the Visudyne(R) patents to sell and market Visudyne in the U.S. Visudyne, a photosensitizer co-developed with Novartis, is approved worldwide for the treatment of a form of wet age-related macular degeneration ("AMD"), the leading cause of legal blindness in people over the age of 55 in North America and Europe.

19 Oct 2009

Vision scientists identify an intricate process that allows the human eye to adapt quickly to darkness

Ever wonder how your eyes adjust during a blackout? When we go from light to near total darkness, cells in the retina must quickly adjust. Vision scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified an intricate process that allows the human eye to adapt to darkness very quickly. The same process also allows the eye to function in bright light.

14 Oct 2009

Common myths about children's eye health and the medical reality behind them

Many parents grew up with medical adages or advice that have since been proven by scientists to be incorrect or outdated. Here are five common myths about children's eye health and the medical reality behind them, prepared by the physicians at The Vision Center at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

12 Oct 2009

Controlled trial comparing Bevacizumab to Ranibizumab finds no difference in efficacy

Investigators from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and the VA Boston Healthcare System have shown, at 6 months in a small group of patients, that there is no difference in efficacy between Bevacizumab (Avastin) and Ranibizumab (Lucentis) for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

9 Oct 2009

Valensa initiates licensing patent for the use of the astaxanthin as a dietary supplement

Valensa International (Orlando, FL USA) announced today that it has initiated a broad out licensing effort for University of Illinois patent (US 5,527,533 and its foreign equivalents) for the use of the astaxanthin in eye healthcare dietary supplement applications.

8 Oct 2009

Macuclear and Mystic announce groundbreaking results from Phase Ib Clinical Trial for Macular Degeneration

MacuCLEAR, Inc. and Mystic Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced today preliminary successful results of a Phase Ib Clinical Trial for the treatment and prevention of the progression of Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). The preliminary results indicated that MacuCLEAR’s MC-1101 drug is safe and well tolerated by study participants, and has a biological effect on blood flow in the back of the retina.

8 Oct 2009

Mimetogen Pharmaceuticals completes its equity financing

Mimetogen Pharmaceuticals Inc. ("Mimetogen"), a privately held drug development company announced today that it has successfully completed an equity financing, co-led by Boston-based VIMAC Milestone Medica Fund and Montréal-based iNovia Capital.

8 Oct 2009

Lions Eye Institute for Transplant & Research to study vision impairment and blindness

Real-time biomedical studies of factors leading to vision impairment are now possible through the world's largest ocular research center at Lions Eye Institute for Transplant & Research.

8 Oct 2009

Roche and Genentech obtain license to use SurModics’ drug delivery system

SurModics, Inc., a leading provider of drug delivery and surface modification technologies to the healthcare industry, announced today that it has signed a License and Development Agreement with Roche and Genentech, Inc., a wholly-owned member of the Roche Group.

7 Oct 2009

Uncertainty regarding clinical effectiveness is a key issue in coverage decisions: Study

A comparison of national agencies that play a role in determining drug coverage decisions in Britain, Canada and Australia finds that uncertainty regarding clinical effectiveness is a key issue in coverage decisions, with other factors including the ability to negotiate price and societal values, according to a study in the October 7 issue of JAMA.

7 Oct 2009

Government of Alberta reimburses first medication to improve vision and restore quality of life

Alberta residents with neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of vision loss over the age of 50, have received a dose of good news with the decision by Alberta Health and Wellness to reimburse the innovative treatment Lucentis* (ranibizumab) on the Alberta Blue Cross insurance plan.

6 Oct 2009

Genentech announces two Phase III study results of Lucentis

Genentech, Inc., a wholly-owned member of the Roche Group, today announced results from two Phase III studies of Lucentis (ranibizumab injection) in macular edema due to retinal vein occlusion (RVO), which showed, on average, patients given either of two doses of Lucentis had a clinically and statistically significant improvement in vision as measured by the primary endpoint of mean change from baseline in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at six months compared to patients receiving sham injections.

5 Oct 2009

Researchers engineer antidotes for blood-thinner aptamers

Imagine a surgical patient on a blood-thinning drug who starts bleeding more than expected, and an antidote that works immediately - because the blood thinner and antidote were designed to work together. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have engineered a way to do this for an entire, versatile class of drugs called aptamers and published their findings in Nature Medicine.

4 Oct 2009

Study finds that visual impairment in T1D patients may be decreasing

People diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D) in recent years are less likely to develop diabetes-related vision loss than those diagnosed in earlier years, says a new study funded by the National Eye Institute, a division of the National Institutes of Health. Forecasts of visual impairment prevalence in T1D patients may need to be amended, the researchers suggest, since current predictions assume that the earlier incidence rates will continue.

3 Oct 2009

Eye treatment reimbursement change could cost Medicare millions

A change in the reimbursement rate for the drug Avastin, used off-label to treat an eye illness in the elderly, could lead Medicare doctors to use a much costlier drug that would cost the system millions, The New York Times reports.

3 Oct 2009

MacuSight's clinical development update on its proprietary ocular sirolimus product

MacuSight, a developer of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of severe ocular diseases and conditions, today provided a clinical development update for Perceiva, the company's proprietary ocular sirolimus product.

30 Sep 2009

Macular Degeneration News and Research

Latest Macular Degeneration News and Research

FDA grants Fast Track designation for MacuSight's Perceiva

NIH grant for Lpath to advance clinical development of its antibody therapeutics

Retinal prosthesis restores partial vision to people who are totally blind

Human neural stem cells protect cone photoreceptors: StemCells preclinical data

QLT receives exclusive U.S. sales and marketing rights for Visudyne therapy

Vision scientists identify an intricate process that allows the human eye to adapt quickly to darkness

Common myths about children's eye health and the medical reality behind them

Controlled trial comparing Bevacizumab to Ranibizumab finds no difference in efficacy

Valensa initiates licensing patent for the use of the astaxanthin as a dietary supplement

Macuclear and Mystic announce groundbreaking results from Phase Ib Clinical Trial for Macular Degeneration

Mimetogen Pharmaceuticals completes its equity financing

Lions Eye Institute for Transplant & Research to study vision impairment and blindness

Roche and Genentech obtain license to use SurModics’ drug delivery system

Uncertainty regarding clinical effectiveness is a key issue in coverage decisions: Study

Government of Alberta reimburses first medication to improve vision and restore quality of life

Genentech announces two Phase III study results of Lucentis

Researchers engineer antidotes for blood-thinner aptamers

Study finds that visual impairment in T1D patients may be decreasing

Eye treatment reimbursement change could cost Medicare millions

MacuSight's clinical development update on its proprietary ocular sirolimus product

Small solutions for big problems in drug discovery and delivery

Professor Nancy Ip: Pioneering New Paths in Neurodegenerative Therapy

Utilizing process Raman in optimizing cultivated meat production

Macular Degeneration News and Research

Latest Macular Degeneration News and Research

Small solutions for big problems in drug discovery and delivery

Professor Nancy Ip: Pioneering New Paths in Neurodegenerative Therapy

Utilizing process Raman in optimizing cultivated meat production

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