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 …
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Roche CEO ‘sleeps better’ as risk to drugmaker’s growth recedes
LONDON (Reuters) - Roche (ROG.S) is increasingly confident it will continue to lift sales and profit even as cut-rate copies of the Swiss drugmaker's older cancer medicines start to grab business next year, its chief executive said on Wednesday. In February the company won U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) breakthrough status for new multiple sclerosis drug Ocrevus. That was followed in …
Activation of the molecular chaperone, sigma 1 receptor, preserves cone function in a murine model of inherited retinal degeneration.
Retinal degenerative diseases are major causes of untreatable blindness, and novel approaches to treatment are being sought actively. Here we explored the activation of a unique protein, sigma 1 receptor (Sig1R), in the treatment of PRC loss because of its multifaceted role in cellular survival. We used Pde6βrd10 (rd10) mice, which harbor a mutation in the rod-specific phosphodiesterase gene …
Prismatic eyewear for patients with tunnel vision to launch
A trio of eyeglasses using revolutionary prism techniques could open up a whole new field of view for patients with hemianopia. The three designs – yoked prisms in a carrier lens, a bi-part double Fresnel prism, and the mirror-based periscopic prisms – were showcased in the journal Optometry and Vision Science. Lead researcher and Harvard Medical School ophthalmology professor, Dr Eli Peli, told …
Intraocular therapy prevents or reverses diabetic retinopathy in mice
Pathologic changes of the retina caused by diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in working adults. Diabetic retinopathy has no known cure, treatment options are inadequate, and prevention strategies offer limited protection. In the first of its kind, a report in The American Journal of Pathology describes a potential new intraocular treatment based on manipulating the renin angiotensin …
Retinal Remodeling And Metabolic Alterations in Human AMD
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a progressive retinal degeneration resulting in central visual field loss, ultimately causing debilitating blindness. While many genetic and environmental risk factors are known for AMD, we currently know less about the mechanisms mediating disease progression. The goal of this article is to illustrate cell types impacted in AMD and demonstrate the …
Avalanche Biotechnologies Closes Transaction With Annapurna Therapeutics
Avalanche Biotechnologies, Inc. (AAVL) today announced the closing of the previously announced transaction with Annapurna Therapeutics. “The new management team is focused on applying our extensive clinical development expertise to advance the company’s gene therapy programs into the clinic. We intend on dosing our first patients for A1AT deficiency by the end of this year and for HAE in 2017 …
eyecro data to be presented at ARVO 2016 in Seattle
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Nerve Injury Appears to be Root of Diabetes-related Vision Loss
Diabetes-related vision loss most often is blamed on blood vessel damage in and around the retina, but new research indicates that much of that vision loss may result from nerve cell injury that occurs long before any blood vessels are damaged. After three months on a high-fat diet, the animals had developed obesity-related glucose intolerance, and by six months, they had nerve problems in the …
Solving Three Major Age-related Eye Conditions in One Go
Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) is looking like more of an optical troublemaker than ever before – as well as its link with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), it also might be causing dry AMD and even age-related cataracts. Therefore, Massachusetts General Hospital researcher and paper author, Dr Alexander Marneros, is looking at what processes create VEGF-A in the eye, to …