Inflammation is one of the main reasons why people with diabetes experience heart attacks, strokes, kidney problems and other, related complications. Now, in a surprise finding, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a possible trigger of chronic inflammation. Through a series of experiments in the animals and in cell cultures, the researchers, …
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Designer Leptin Receptor Antagonist Allo-aca Inhibits VEGF Effects in Ophthalmic Neoangiogenesis Models
Experimental and clinical data suggest that pro-angiogenic, pro-inflammatory and mitogenic cytokine leptin can be implicated in ocular neovascularization and the other eye pathologies. At least in part, leptin action appears to be mediated through functional interplay with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The effects of VEGF on leptin expression were assessed in ocular endothelial cell …
Data Monitoring Committee Recommends Continuation of APOLLO Phase 3 Clinical Trial of Patisiran for Hereditary ATTR Amyloidosis with Polyneuropathy (hATTR-PN)
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY), the leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that the Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) for the Phase 3 APOLLO study of patisiran in patients with hereditary ATTR amyloidosis with polyneuropathy (hATTR-PN) met on October 7, 2016 and recommended continuation of the trial without modification. Read the entire …
Patient-reported outcomes and visual acuity after 12 months of anti-VEGF-treatment for sight-threatening diabetic macular edema in a real world setting
This study was an evaluation, at 12 months follow-up, of anti VEGF treatment for diabetic macular edema conducted in a real world setting. To examine objective visual acuity measured with ETDRS, retinal thickness (OCT), patient reported outcome and describe levels of glycated hemoglobin and its association with the effects on visual acuity in patients treated with anti-VEGF for visual impairment …
Surgeons perform world’s first operation inside the eye using a robot
Robert MacLaren, Professor of Ophthalmology. assisted by Dr Thomas Edwards, Nuffield Medical Fellow, used the remotely controlled robot to lift a membrane 100th of a millimetre thick from the retina at the back of the right eye of the Revd Dr William Beaver, 70, an Associate Priest at St Mary the Virgin, Iffley, Oxford. He is the first patient ever to undergo this experimental procedure. Read the …
Allergan Makes an Eye-Opening Acquisition
Global pharmaceutical company Allergan (NYSE:AGN) may have just revealed its plans for the future. On Aug. 11, the company announced its plan to acquire ForSight Vision5, a privately held biotech. Allergan will pay $95 million up front and will also pay a milestone payment next year if ForSight's innovative glaucoma treatment device makes it through the FDA gauntlet and is successfully launched. …
Curing blindness by repairing corneas with invisible films
The University of Melbourne–lead team of researchers have grown corneal cells on a layer of film that can be implanted in the eye to help the cornea heal itself. They have successfully restored vision in animal trials and are aiming to move to human trials next year. "The hydrogel film we have developed allows us to grow a layer of corneal cells in the laboratory," says Berkay. "Then, we can …
Interim results from clinical trial demonstrate safety of cell-based therapy for retinitis pigmentosa
Regenerative medicine company jCyte and the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine report that their investigational therapy for retinitis pigmentosa (RP) has demonstrated a favorable safety and tolerability profile in an ongoing Phase I/II clinical trial. The cell-based approach taken is intended to rescue sick and dying retinal photoreceptor cells …
Investigator-Sponsored Phase 2 Study Results Show pSivida’s Medidur® Fully Controlled Uveitis for Two Years with No Recurrence of Disease While Visual Acuity Continued to Improve
WATERTOWN, Mass., July 14, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- pSivida Corp. (NASDAQ:PSDV) (ASX:PVA), a leader in the development of sustained release drug delivery products primarily for eye diseases, announced that the results from an investigator-sponsored Phase 2 study of pSivida’s Medidur showed no recurrence of uveitis in 11 eyes treated with Medidur during the two years following implantation, while …
Gene-based agents for the treatment of congenital eye diseases
Pharmacologists at LMU have developed gene-based agents for the treatment of congenital eye diseases. The first of these is now undergoing a phase-I clinical trial in color-blind patients at the University Medical Center in Tübingen. Is this approach translatable in principle to other visual disorders? Michalakis: About 200 genes have been identified which, when mutated, lead to monogenetic …