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…
The Macular Degeneration Association, a nonprofit dedicated to preventing blindness, today issued an urgent warning to patients suffering from a form of the disease known as “intermediate dry age-related macular degeneration.” MDA leaders and ophthalmologists are advising patients to talk with their doctors about a proven and commonly prescribed vitamin supplement containing zinc, an ingredient…
A contact lens with a built-in sensor could help determine which glaucoma patients have a higher risk of disease progression, according to a new study. Glaucoma remains a leading cause of blindness. One of the main indicators of the disease is high pressure in the eye, or intraocular pressure. Researchers at Columbia tested the lenses on…
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…
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…
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…
There are about 48,000 corneal transplants done each year in the U.S., compared to approximately 16,000 kidney transplants and 2,100 heart transplants 12. Out of the 48,000 corneal transplants done, 10 percent of them end up in rejection, largely due to poor medication compliance. The nanoparticle loaded with medication could eliminate the need for a…
Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AERI), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of first-in-class therapies for the treatment of patients with glaucoma and other diseases of the eye, announced today potentially breakthrough findings from new preclinical research. The research found that RhopressaTM suppressed the activity of profibrotic proteins – TGF-beta 2 and…
The American Health Assistance Foundation (AHAF), a nonprofit organization with a history of funding breakthrough research on age-related vision diseases, announced today that it has awarded 21 new grants totaling $2.1 million to scientists worldwide who are studying and macular degeneration. The two conditions are the leading causes of irreversible blindness in the world….
According to the 2012 update of the “Vision Problems in the U.S.” report, a study released today by Prevent Blindness America and the National Eye Institute, the number of those ages 40 and older with vision impairment and blindness has increased 23 percent since the year 2000. In addition, a preliminary update to the 2007…