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…
Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ISIS) today announced that its license agreement with Bayer HealthCare (Bayer) to develop and commercialize ISIS-FXIRx has received clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. After completion of ongoing activities at Isis, Bayer will assume all global clinical development as well as worldwide regulatory and commercialization responsibilities for ISIS-FXIRx. ISIS-FXIRx is an…
Taking the medication metformin hydrochloride was associated with reduced risk of developing the sight-threatening disease open-angle glaucoma in people with diabetes, according to a study published online by JAMA Ophthalmology. Medications that mimic caloric restriction such as metformin can reduce the risk of some late age-onset disease. It is unknown whether these caloric mimetic drugs…
Amarantus BioScience Holdings, Inc. announced the presentation of positive preclinical data for MANF (mesencephalic-astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor) in retinitis pigmentosa (RP) at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting, being held in Denver, CO. The results from preclinical studies demonstrate that MANF preserves the light-sensing function of photoreceptor cells in a genetic model of…
Oklahoma City, OK, and Seattle, WA; (May 4, 2015) – eyecro LLC and NeuMedics Inc., today announced the formation of a collaboration to facilitate development of NM108, a first-in-class small molecule to treat a number of ophthalmic disorders that lead to blindness, including Diabetic Retinopathy. The collaboration grants NeuMedics full access to the MiDROPS™ formulation…
Cells taken from the donated eyes of dead people may be able to give sight to the blind, researchers suggest. Tests in rats, reported in Stem Cells Translational Medicine, showed the human cells could restore some vision to completely blind rats. Donated corneas are already used to improve some people’s sight, but the team at…