Gene therapy preserved vision in a study involving dogs with naturally occurring, late-stage retinitis pigmentosa, according to research funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health. The findings contribute to the groundwork needed to move gene therapy forward into clinical trials for people with the blinding eye disorder, for…
Aerie Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of first-in-class glaucoma therapies, today reported the successful results of its second Phase 3 trial for Rhopressa™, a novel once-daily, triple-action eye drop being tested for its ability to lower intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension. Read the entire…
The optic nerve that sends visual signals to the brain must pass through the retina which creates a hole in that light-sensitive layer of tissue. When images project to that precise location, we miss them. This blind spot can be ‘shrunk’ despite the fact that the hole in our visual field cannot be. The findings…
One major cause of human blindness is autoimmune uveitis, which is triggered by the activation of T cells, but exactly how and where the T cells become activated in the first place has been a long-standing mystery. Autoimmune uveitis, which accounts for up to 15% of severe visual handicap in the Western world, affects the…
A Cleveland Clinic lab has found evidence to support the theory that age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an inflammatory disease with varying ways to progress to advanced dry and wet AMD. Focusing on proteomic studies to discover biomarkers and molecular mechanisms of AMD and glaucoma, John W. Crabb, PhD, and his colleagues found many proteins…
Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration (or AMD) is the most common cause of vision loss in people over age 50, affecting about 10 million Americans. While there’s currently no cure for AMD there are some things you can do if you’re high risk. One option is to talk to your doctor about…
Retinal detachment can occur as a result of either blunt trauma or as a side effect of a variety of ophthalmic diseases, including diabetic retinopathy, ocular tumors, and age-related macular degeneration. There is a significant increase in the immune system’s ‘alternative complement pathway’ following retinal detachment, researchers report, adding that this pathway facilitated early photoreceptor…
Rafal Farjo, Ph.D. is chief operating officer of both eyecro and Charlesson, which are involved in research to advance treatments for eye disease such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and ocular inflammation. Far from resisting his family’s interest in all things STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — Farjo embraced it. “I loved it, and…
Bayer HealthCare has entered into a five-year collaboration agreement with The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, US, for the discovery and development of new therapies in ophthalmology targeting retinal diseases. Both the parties will jointly conduct research activities evaluating new targets and disease mechanisms, drug delivery technologies, and biomarkers for back-of-the-eye diseases with high unmet…
Serum retinol-binding protein (RBP4) is the sole specific transport protein for retinol in the blood, but it is also an adipokine with retinol-independent, pro-inflammatory activity associated with obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Here we show that RBP4-Tg mice develop progressive retinal degeneration, characterized by photoreceptor ribbon synapse deficiency and subsequent bipolar…