LCA patients gain benefit from Spark Therapeutics' gene therapy treatment, Luxturna

(c) Mass Eye & Ear

With the approval of Spark Therapeutics' Luxturna for Leber's Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), eye institutions around the US have started offering the treatment to their patients. In recent days, we have heard of this treatment being offered for the first time after the approval in Massachusetts Eye and Ear in Boston, followed the same day by the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. A few days later, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute completed its first case.

Retinal cells derived from Stem Cells help treat Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD)

(c) UCSB

In the months before Douglas Waters’ surgery, his vision was poor and he couldn’t see anything out of his right eye due to severe age-related macular degeneration (AMD). He struggled to see things clearly, even when up close. After the surgery, his eyesight improved so much that he could read the newspaper and help his wife with gardening.

Regeneron's PANORAMA study for Eylea in Diabetic Retinopathy shows Promise

(c) PMLive

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced positive topline data from its Phase III PANORAMA clinical trial of Eylea (aflibercept) injection in moderately severe to severe non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy, which affects about eight million people, is the result of microvascular damage to the blood vessels in the retina related to lack of blood sugar control in diabetic patients.

A Biomarker could predict response of intravitreal injections in Diabetic Macular Edema

(c) OMICS

Researchers at St. Michael’s Hospital have found an association with a biomarker from aqueous fluid in the eye that predicts which patients will respond best to current treatments for diabetic macular edema. Their findings suggest this biomarker may be not only a marker of disease severity and anatomic response but also a potential therapeutic target in DME, recognizing that in patients with DME, there is not always a direct correlation between anatomic and visual acuity response.

Muller cells a key cell in preventing age-related vision loss

(c) Duke

Duke researchers have pinpointed a new therapeutic target for macular degeneration. Clinical trials have shown that injection of human umbilical stem cells, or hUTC, into the retina helps preserve and restore vision in macular degeneration patients. However, the underlying mechanisms behind the therapy remain unknown. Their findings show that hUTC treatment preserves the function of a retinal cell called the Müller glia in rats with degenerative vision loss.

New Research demonstrates success with Gene Therapy for a form of Inherited Macular Degeneration

(c) UPenn News

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have developed a gene therapy that successfully treats a form of macular degeneration in a canine model. The work sets the stage for translating the findings into a human therapy for an inherited disease that results in a progressive loss of central vision and which is currently untreatable.

Clearside's CLS-TA achieves endpoints in Phase 3 PEACHTREE trial

(c) Retinal Physician

Clearside Biomedical, Inc. has announced positive topline results from its pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of suprachoroidal CLS-TA in patients with macular edema associated with non-infectious uveitis.

NEI/NIH launch clinical trial to study AMD progression

(c) NEI / NIH

A new clinical study led by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, will follow 500 people over five years to learn more about the natural history of early age-related macular degeneration (AMD). By using the latest technologies to visualize structures within the eye and measure their function, researchers hope to identify biomarkers of disease progression, well before it advances to late-stage disease and causes vision loss.