Can treatments that reduce risks for cardiovascular disease (CVD) also help combat age-related macular degeneration (AMD), an eye disease that affects millions of Americans? CVD and AMD share some risk factors–such as smoking, high blood pressure, and inflammation–and a recent study found that people who have early-stage AMD are more likely to develop heart disease. This month's Ophthalmology
, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, reports on how two heart disease treatments, low-dose aspirin and statin medications, may impact AMD risk and disease progression.
Low-dose Aspirin May Offer Mild Protection from AMD
Records for 39,421women enrolled in the 10-year Women's Health Study (WHS) were used to evaluate the impact of low-dose aspirin on AMD risk. None of the women had AMD at the study outset; they were randomly assigned to take low-dose aspirin (100 mg on alternate days) or a placebo. It is known that low-dose aspirin substantially reduces the risk of serious blood vessel blockage, so researchers reasoned it might affect blood vessels that may play a role in AMD. Aspirin's anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects were also considered potentially relevant. The research was supported by the National Eye Institute.
"Although our study found no large benefit from low-dose aspirin, the possible modest protective effect we did find warrants further study," said lead researcher William G. Christen, ScD, of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA. "If future studies confirm our findings, it could be important to make the public aware of this benefit," he added.
The risk of developing vision-impacting AMD was reduced by18 percent in women who took low-dose aspirin. During the 10 year study, 245 AMD cases developed, 111 in the aspirin group and 134 in the placebo group. "Vision impact" was defined as a reduction in visual acuity to 20/30 or worse due to AMD. Though not statistically significant, the WHS risk reduction is similar to the result of the only other large randomized trial on this question: the Physicians' Health Study I, which followed 22,071 men who took low-dose aspirin or a placebo for five years.
The primary aim of the WHS was to learn whether Vitamin E and low-dose aspirin would help prevent heart disease and cancer. The AMD study also found that women who were not taking multivitamins appeared to benefit more from low-dose aspirin than vitamin users.
Statins Do Not Stop Advanced AMD
In the largest study of statin use by advanced AMD patients to date, researchers followed 744 patients enrolled in the Complications of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Prevention Trial (CAPT) for five or six years. Statin drugs are primarily used to lower cholesterol in CVD patients, but they also affect mechanisms thought to impact AMD, including reduction of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein. Earlier studies on statins' effects had been inconclusive. All patients from the CAPT cohort study were at risk for advanced AMD, but none had developed advanced "wet" or "dry" AMD at baseline. The study was supported by the National Eye Institute.
"The CAPT data did not support a large effect for statins in decreasing advanced AMD risk in patients who already had large drusen in both eyes," said lead researcher Maureen G. Maguire, PhD, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pennsylvania. Drusen are whitish deposits, common in the eyes of people older than 60, which may signal AMD. Statin users were at slightly higher risk than non-users for developing advanced AMD, she said.
Dr. Maguire said several factors may be masking a protective effect for statins, the most important being that most patients who take statins for CVD are also at high risk for AMD. Only a randomized controlled trial could reveal statins' impact on AMD in the wider population, but since so many elderly people take statins it could be difficult to recruit a control group. It is also possible that statins may need to be taken for longer than the CAPT study's timeframe to show a protective effect, she added.
For more information go to www.maculardegenerationassociation.org
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Avastin – Wet Macular Degeneration
Learn more about ways to help stop your macular degeneration by clicking on this sentence.
Avastin is the brand name for Bevaciumab a monoclonal antibody or an antibody that is an identical clone of a single parent cell. It was approved in 2004 by the FDA for use in the treatment of some cancers and is used as a first or second line treatment for patients.
As the first clinically available angiogenesis inhibitor the United States it inhibits new cancer cells by blocking the growth of blood vessels in pre-existing tumors. A solid, non-liquid, tumor needs to grow additional blood vessels to be able to reach a certain size.
With an angiostatic agent such as Avastin the growth of new blood vessels is slowed stopping the cancer from growing indefinitely. It is usually given every 14 days intravenously in the arm and can be used with other drugs in combination and with intravenous 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy.
Developed by Genentech (NYSE: DNA), a leading biotechnology corporation, it is marketed in the United States under the Genentech name and outside the US under Roche.
When it was originally available in 2004 it was only FDA approved for the treatment of many forms of small cell lung cancer and metastatic colon cancer. A metastatic cancer, in this case colon cancer, is a cancer that spreads from one part or organ to another non-adjacent part or organ.
In 2008 the FDA opened up the doors and allowed for the treatment of breast cancer. There are also clinical trials under way to use Avastin for the treatment of non-metastatic colon cancer, metastatic renal cell carcinoma, metastatic breast cancer, metastatic glioblastoma multiform, metastatic hormone-refractory prostate cancer, metastatic or unresectable locally advanced pancreatic cancer, and metastatic ovarian cancer.
Avastin is also currently being used off-label, the practice of prescribing drugs for a purpose outside the scope of the drug’s approved label, for the treatment of wet macular degeneration by some retinal specialists.
Wet macular degeneration or AMD is a condition that causes loss of vision from the growth of abnormal blood vessel choriocapillaries, through Bruch’s membrane. This eventually leads to blood and protein leaking below the macula, an oval spot near the middle of the retina in the human eye. With AMD rapid, often irreversible vision loss can occur through the leaking, bleeding and scaring of the blood vessels if left untreated.
Dr. Philip J Rosenfeld, MD, PhD of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute conducted a study that showed positive results for the treatment of AMD with Avastin. According to Dr. Rosenfeld’s study Avastin improved vision in as little as one week for patients treated for AMD.
For AMD treatment Avastin is used in very low amounts by retinal specialists. They usually have a pharmacists transfer the drug from the original vile to a pre-filled needles containing single doses. The specialists will then usually treat the patient in their own office.
As with any drug it is always best to talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting any treatment.
For more information go to www.maculardegenerationassociation.org
Avastin is the brand name for Bevaciumab a monoclonal antibody or an antibody that is an identical clone of a single parent cell. It was approved in 2004 by the FDA for use in the treatment of some cancers and is used as a first or second line treatment for patients.
As the first clinically available angiogenesis inhibitor the United States it inhibits new cancer cells by blocking the growth of blood vessels in pre-existing tumors. A solid, non-liquid, tumor needs to grow additional blood vessels to be able to reach a certain size.
With an angiostatic agent such as Avastin the growth of new blood vessels is slowed stopping the cancer from growing indefinitely. It is usually given every 14 days intravenously in the arm and can be used with other drugs in combination and with intravenous 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy.
Developed by Genentech (NYSE: DNA), a leading biotechnology corporation, it is marketed in the United States under the Genentech name and outside the US under Roche.
When it was originally available in 2004 it was only FDA approved for the treatment of many forms of small cell lung cancer and metastatic colon cancer. A metastatic cancer, in this case colon cancer, is a cancer that spreads from one part or organ to another non-adjacent part or organ.
In 2008 the FDA opened up the doors and allowed for the treatment of breast cancer. There are also clinical trials under way to use Avastin for the treatment of non-metastatic colon cancer, metastatic renal cell carcinoma, metastatic breast cancer, metastatic glioblastoma multiform, metastatic hormone-refractory prostate cancer, metastatic or unresectable locally advanced pancreatic cancer, and metastatic ovarian cancer.
Avastin is also currently being used off-label, the practice of prescribing drugs for a purpose outside the scope of the drug’s approved label, for the treatment of wet macular degeneration by some retinal specialists.
Wet macular degeneration or AMD is a condition that causes loss of vision from the growth of abnormal blood vessel choriocapillaries, through Bruch’s membrane. This eventually leads to blood and protein leaking below the macula, an oval spot near the middle of the retina in the human eye. With AMD rapid, often irreversible vision loss can occur through the leaking, bleeding and scaring of the blood vessels if left untreated.
Dr. Philip J Rosenfeld, MD, PhD of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute conducted a study that showed positive results for the treatment of AMD with Avastin. According to Dr. Rosenfeld’s study Avastin improved vision in as little as one week for patients treated for AMD.
For AMD treatment Avastin is used in very low amounts by retinal specialists. They usually have a pharmacists transfer the drug from the original vile to a pre-filled needles containing single doses. The specialists will then usually treat the patient in their own office.
As with any drug it is always best to talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting any treatment.
For more information go to www.maculardegenerationassociation.org
Monday, November 16, 2009
New treatment proves that Macular Degeneration can be cured
Micro Current Stimulation (MCS) which like acupuncture for the eyes. This procedure has proven results that will improved eye site from 20/100 to 20/60 and from 20/25 to 20/20. MD is the destruction of cells in the central part of the retina. A new revolutionary (MSC) treatment will reverse the disease. This treatment will re-generate the cells in the retina as it re-charges the cells and give them new life. This procedure increases the cells production of an energy chemical called ATP which creates new protein. Based on reports from patients this procedure has astonishing results.
For more information go to www.maculardegenerationassociation.org
For more information go to www.maculardegenerationassociation.org
Monday, November 9, 2009
Treatment for macular degeneration
By Emily Singer
Molecular Sunglasses for Macular Degeneration
Dampening a light-sensing reaction in the eye might slow a common cause of blindness.
Molecules designed to slow the production of toxic byproducts in the eye by making it less sensitive to light are now being tested in patients with macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in people age 50 and older. If successful, the compounds would provide a much needed therapy for the disease, which affects more than 15 million people in the United States.
In macular degeneration, cells in the center of the eye, called the macula, deteriorate. A handful of new treatments for the more severe form of the disease, known as wet AMD, have been approved in recent years. But no treatments are yet available for the dry form, which accounts for about 90 percent of cases. Some dry cases ultimately progress to the wet form, which accounts for a large part of AMD-related blindness. “If you can treat dry AMD, you can kill two birds with one stone,” both reducing early symptoms and preventing progression to the wet form, says Paul Sieving, director of the National Eye Institute, in Bethesda, MD.
While scientists are still trying to understand the causes of AMD–age is the biggest risk factor, with genetics and lifestyle factors also playing a role–a growing pool of evidence suggests that the build up of specific compounds in the eye can hasten the cellular damage that underlies the disease. These compounds accumulate in the photoreceptors–cells in the retina that detect light–during normal eye function as the light-sensitive pigments in these cells change conformation in response to photons.
One form of the photopigment, a derivative of vitamin A, is highly reactive and leaks into nearby tissue called the retinal pigment epithelium. “Over time we think these compounds are a burden for the retinal pigment epithelium, which is essential for the healthy function of the photoreceptors,” says Janet Sparrow, director of the Retinal Cell Biology Laboratory at Columbia University, in New York. “In age-related macular degeneration, particularly the dry form, these cells die, and the photoreceptors follow.”
While this reaction is vital for sight, researchers believe that slowing the cycle in the subset of photoreceptors responsible for night vision, known as rods, could slow damage without having a large impact on daytime vision. (Preliminary results suggest it can affect dark-adaptation–when our eyes adjust to low-light conditions.) “During the daytime, the rods are spinning like crazy, wasting vitamin A for no good use,” says Ryo Kubota, an ophthalmologist and founder of Acucela, a Seattle-based startup that is developing treatments for macular degeneration. “It’s like a CCD camera pointed at the sun.”
One compound developed by Acucela that is in clinical trials inhibits the enzyme that converts the photopigment in photoreceptors from one form to another. This process happens only in the eye, allowing the drug to be administered systemically without affecting other tissue, says Kubota. The company has finished initial safety testing in humans and plans to begin a clinical trial assessing the compound’s effectiveness in patients with late-stage dry macular degeneration in a few weeks. Kubota also aims to test the compound in diabetic retinopathy and Stargardt disease, a rare, genetically inherited form of macular degeneration.
A second drug that acts by a slightly different mechanism is being evaluated for macular degeneration by Sirion Therapeutics, a Florida-based pharmaceutical company. The compound is a synthetic vitamin A derivative that is thought to reduce toxin buildup by binding to one of the proteins involved in the reaction. According to preliminary results from tests of the drug in patients with late-stage dry macular degeneration, it can slow the scarring that is characteristic of the disease by 45 percent. However, scientists won’t know if the results are statistically significant until completion of the study next year. Because no treatments have been approved for dry AMD, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has fast-tracked the drug, speeding the review process.
For more information go to www.maculardegenerationassociation.org
Molecular Sunglasses for Macular Degeneration
Dampening a light-sensing reaction in the eye might slow a common cause of blindness.
Molecules designed to slow the production of toxic byproducts in the eye by making it less sensitive to light are now being tested in patients with macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in people age 50 and older. If successful, the compounds would provide a much needed therapy for the disease, which affects more than 15 million people in the United States.
In macular degeneration, cells in the center of the eye, called the macula, deteriorate. A handful of new treatments for the more severe form of the disease, known as wet AMD, have been approved in recent years. But no treatments are yet available for the dry form, which accounts for about 90 percent of cases. Some dry cases ultimately progress to the wet form, which accounts for a large part of AMD-related blindness. “If you can treat dry AMD, you can kill two birds with one stone,” both reducing early symptoms and preventing progression to the wet form, says Paul Sieving, director of the National Eye Institute, in Bethesda, MD.
While scientists are still trying to understand the causes of AMD–age is the biggest risk factor, with genetics and lifestyle factors also playing a role–a growing pool of evidence suggests that the build up of specific compounds in the eye can hasten the cellular damage that underlies the disease. These compounds accumulate in the photoreceptors–cells in the retina that detect light–during normal eye function as the light-sensitive pigments in these cells change conformation in response to photons.
One form of the photopigment, a derivative of vitamin A, is highly reactive and leaks into nearby tissue called the retinal pigment epithelium. “Over time we think these compounds are a burden for the retinal pigment epithelium, which is essential for the healthy function of the photoreceptors,” says Janet Sparrow, director of the Retinal Cell Biology Laboratory at Columbia University, in New York. “In age-related macular degeneration, particularly the dry form, these cells die, and the photoreceptors follow.”
While this reaction is vital for sight, researchers believe that slowing the cycle in the subset of photoreceptors responsible for night vision, known as rods, could slow damage without having a large impact on daytime vision. (Preliminary results suggest it can affect dark-adaptation–when our eyes adjust to low-light conditions.) “During the daytime, the rods are spinning like crazy, wasting vitamin A for no good use,” says Ryo Kubota, an ophthalmologist and founder of Acucela, a Seattle-based startup that is developing treatments for macular degeneration. “It’s like a CCD camera pointed at the sun.”
One compound developed by Acucela that is in clinical trials inhibits the enzyme that converts the photopigment in photoreceptors from one form to another. This process happens only in the eye, allowing the drug to be administered systemically without affecting other tissue, says Kubota. The company has finished initial safety testing in humans and plans to begin a clinical trial assessing the compound’s effectiveness in patients with late-stage dry macular degeneration in a few weeks. Kubota also aims to test the compound in diabetic retinopathy and Stargardt disease, a rare, genetically inherited form of macular degeneration.
A second drug that acts by a slightly different mechanism is being evaluated for macular degeneration by Sirion Therapeutics, a Florida-based pharmaceutical company. The compound is a synthetic vitamin A derivative that is thought to reduce toxin buildup by binding to one of the proteins involved in the reaction. According to preliminary results from tests of the drug in patients with late-stage dry macular degeneration, it can slow the scarring that is characteristic of the disease by 45 percent. However, scientists won’t know if the results are statistically significant until completion of the study next year. Because no treatments have been approved for dry AMD, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has fast-tracked the drug, speeding the review process.
For more information go to www.maculardegenerationassociation.org
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
AMD Drug And IOP; Getting Good Eyeglasses To Those In Need
A first-time finding of intraocular pressure increases in patients with no personal or family history of glaucoma following anti-VEGF treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and a report on a simple, low-cost method that could revolutionize vision screening and treatment in developing countries, are highlights of today's Scientific Program of the 2009 Joint Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology (PAAO).
The AAO-PAAO meeting is in session October 24 through 27 at the Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA. As the largest, most comprehensive ophthalmic education conference in the world, it offers United States and international Eye M.D.s more than 2,000 scientifically-based, peer-reviewed presentations including instruction courses, skills labs, "Breakfast with the Experts" roundtables and 900 research papers and posters.
Wet Macular Degeneration Treatment May Increase Intraocular Pressure
Some patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) develop elevated pressure within the eye (intraocular pressure, IOP) following treatment with anti-VEGF medications bevacizumab and/or ranibizumab, reports a Yale University School of Medicine study led by Ron A. Adelman, MD, MPH. Both of these anti-VEGFs control the abnormal growth of blood vessels in the eye's retina and are very effective against wet AMD, which can result in vision loss or blindness if untreated. But high IOP is a key factor in glaucoma, also a potentially blinding disease. Of 116 Yale study patients treated for wet AMD with either or both medications from 2006 to 2008, 3.45 percent (four patients) developed a significant and persistent rise in IOP.
"To our knowledge, ours is the first study to document persistent ocular hypertension (OHT) following intravitreal bevacizumab injections in patients with no personal or family history of glaucoma or ocular hypertension (OHT)," Dr. Adelman said. "We found that sustained, high IOP may occur after only one anti-VEGF injection, but more typically after multiple injections. Patients' OHT may continue over several AMD treatments and may require IOP-lowering therapy," he added.
The researchers also reviewed a report by S.F. Bakri and colleagues on persistent OHT after ranibizumab treatment. Of eight OHT patients total in the two studies, four had received a YAG posterior capsulotomy (a procedure related to cataract surgery) prior to wet AMD treatment, which might have predisposed them to OHT, Dr. Adelman said.
New Screening Method Could Mean Clear Vision for Millions
More than 150 million people globally–particularly in developing countries–struggle with poor vision because they cannot access appropriate eyeglasses. Earlier studies indicated that many could not meet the 20/60 vision driver's license standard, a level of impairment that makes daily tasks and economic success difficult. Seeking a low-cost solution, Thomas S. Shane, MD, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, developed a method that uses a new electronic device called an auto-refractor, a vision chart, and pre-made eyeglasses.
Dr. Shane tested this method in high-poverty Mayan villages in southern Belize. Local health workers recruited people, and everyone over age 12 who came to the clinic within a five-day period was tested. In less than a minute per patient the auto-refractor assessed vision and reported the patient's lens prescription. Of 385 villagers screened 79 needed eyeglasses. Each person received new, pre-made eyeglasses with the appropriate lens strengths; then vision was tested again. On average, vision improved from 20/60 without glasses to 20/25 with glasses.
"This method requires minimal health care worker training and treatment time per patient," Dr. Shane said. "Costs are further minimized because eyeglasses with a range of lens prescriptions to treat the most common refractive errors could be produced and shipped in bulk. Compared to current practices in developing countries, our method may be much more effective, especially where the need is great but resources are limited."
For more information go to www.maculardegenerationassociation.org
The AAO-PAAO meeting is in session October 24 through 27 at the Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA. As the largest, most comprehensive ophthalmic education conference in the world, it offers United States and international Eye M.D.s more than 2,000 scientifically-based, peer-reviewed presentations including instruction courses, skills labs, "Breakfast with the Experts" roundtables and 900 research papers and posters.
Wet Macular Degeneration Treatment May Increase Intraocular Pressure
Some patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) develop elevated pressure within the eye (intraocular pressure, IOP) following treatment with anti-VEGF medications bevacizumab and/or ranibizumab, reports a Yale University School of Medicine study led by Ron A. Adelman, MD, MPH. Both of these anti-VEGFs control the abnormal growth of blood vessels in the eye's retina and are very effective against wet AMD, which can result in vision loss or blindness if untreated. But high IOP is a key factor in glaucoma, also a potentially blinding disease. Of 116 Yale study patients treated for wet AMD with either or both medications from 2006 to 2008, 3.45 percent (four patients) developed a significant and persistent rise in IOP.
"To our knowledge, ours is the first study to document persistent ocular hypertension (OHT) following intravitreal bevacizumab injections in patients with no personal or family history of glaucoma or ocular hypertension (OHT)," Dr. Adelman said. "We found that sustained, high IOP may occur after only one anti-VEGF injection, but more typically after multiple injections. Patients' OHT may continue over several AMD treatments and may require IOP-lowering therapy," he added.
The researchers also reviewed a report by S.F. Bakri and colleagues on persistent OHT after ranibizumab treatment. Of eight OHT patients total in the two studies, four had received a YAG posterior capsulotomy (a procedure related to cataract surgery) prior to wet AMD treatment, which might have predisposed them to OHT, Dr. Adelman said.
New Screening Method Could Mean Clear Vision for Millions
More than 150 million people globally–particularly in developing countries–struggle with poor vision because they cannot access appropriate eyeglasses. Earlier studies indicated that many could not meet the 20/60 vision driver's license standard, a level of impairment that makes daily tasks and economic success difficult. Seeking a low-cost solution, Thomas S. Shane, MD, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, developed a method that uses a new electronic device called an auto-refractor, a vision chart, and pre-made eyeglasses.
Dr. Shane tested this method in high-poverty Mayan villages in southern Belize. Local health workers recruited people, and everyone over age 12 who came to the clinic within a five-day period was tested. In less than a minute per patient the auto-refractor assessed vision and reported the patient's lens prescription. Of 385 villagers screened 79 needed eyeglasses. Each person received new, pre-made eyeglasses with the appropriate lens strengths; then vision was tested again. On average, vision improved from 20/60 without glasses to 20/25 with glasses.
"This method requires minimal health care worker training and treatment time per patient," Dr. Shane said. "Costs are further minimized because eyeglasses with a range of lens prescriptions to treat the most common refractive errors could be produced and shipped in bulk. Compared to current practices in developing countries, our method may be much more effective, especially where the need is great but resources are limited."
For more information go to www.maculardegenerationassociation.org
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Bionic Eye Opens New World Of Sight For The Blind
Stem cells and electronics can help restore vision to people who’ve been blinded by retinal diseases, scientists reported in Chicago at Neuroscience 2009, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
Diseases of the retina cause blindness by damaging the cells that line the back of the eye, where images of the world are normally transformed into nerve impulses that go to the brain.
“There’s very little therapeutic treatment out there tight now for people with diseased retinas,” says Brian Mech, a vice president of Second Sight Medical Products in Sylmar, Calif.
But Second Sight is hoping to change that. The company has developed an experimental bionic eye that has been tried in more than 30 patients with macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa.
Building An Artificial Retina
Each patient wears a pair of glasses that incorporates a video camera, Mech says. The video signal from the camera is sent to an implant on the eye itself, which in turns communicates with an array of electrodes attached to the patient’s retina.
And those electrodes do what the old retina can’t anymore: send electrical signals to the brain that allow sight.
Mech says it usually takes patients’ brains a little while to make sense of the new signals.
“They learn to use the device better over time,” he says. “Someone that has had the device for a year will do better than they did at three months.”
The artificial eye uses just 60 electrodes to replace millions of retinal cells. Mech says that means vision is rudimentary.
So people can find doors and follow lines on the floor. But most can’t read, and those who can only make out very large letters.
At the neuroscience meeting, Second Sight presented a study showing that patients could use the artificial eye to tell which direction an object was moving.
Despite the limitations of the artificial eye, Mech says patients who’ve gotten one tend to get emotional when they realize they can see even a little bit.
“There’s a lot of crying, a lot of smiling,” he says. “It’s a sensory input that they haven’t had in a very long time, and so they’re excited.”
Growing New Retina Cells
A team led by Robert Aramant of the University of California, Irvine, offered a different approach to restoring sight.
Since the 1980s, Aramant has been working to fix retinas damaged by diseases including macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.
And for several years now, the team has been treating patients using fetal retinal cells. Their approach is to retrieve an intact sheet of fetal retinal cells and transplant the entire sheet into a damaged eye.
The transplanted cells then mature the same way they would in a developing fetus, creating all the layers of a normal retina, Aramant says.
The team has treated just 10 patients so far, because of funding constraints. But Aramant says seven of those patients got better, including one woman whose vision went from 20-800, which is severely impaired, to 20-200, which is good enough for many daily tasks.
After treatment, Aramant says, the woman was able to play computer games, write emails, and read a large-print version of Reader’s Digest.
Also at the meeting in Chicago, scientists presented studies showing ways to create new light-sensitive molecules in the eye, and to use stem cells to grow specific types of retinal cells.
For more information go to www.maculardegenerationassociation.org
Diseases of the retina cause blindness by damaging the cells that line the back of the eye, where images of the world are normally transformed into nerve impulses that go to the brain.
“There’s very little therapeutic treatment out there tight now for people with diseased retinas,” says Brian Mech, a vice president of Second Sight Medical Products in Sylmar, Calif.
But Second Sight is hoping to change that. The company has developed an experimental bionic eye that has been tried in more than 30 patients with macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa.
Building An Artificial Retina
Each patient wears a pair of glasses that incorporates a video camera, Mech says. The video signal from the camera is sent to an implant on the eye itself, which in turns communicates with an array of electrodes attached to the patient’s retina.
And those electrodes do what the old retina can’t anymore: send electrical signals to the brain that allow sight.
Mech says it usually takes patients’ brains a little while to make sense of the new signals.
“They learn to use the device better over time,” he says. “Someone that has had the device for a year will do better than they did at three months.”
The artificial eye uses just 60 electrodes to replace millions of retinal cells. Mech says that means vision is rudimentary.
So people can find doors and follow lines on the floor. But most can’t read, and those who can only make out very large letters.
At the neuroscience meeting, Second Sight presented a study showing that patients could use the artificial eye to tell which direction an object was moving.
Despite the limitations of the artificial eye, Mech says patients who’ve gotten one tend to get emotional when they realize they can see even a little bit.
“There’s a lot of crying, a lot of smiling,” he says. “It’s a sensory input that they haven’t had in a very long time, and so they’re excited.”
Growing New Retina Cells
A team led by Robert Aramant of the University of California, Irvine, offered a different approach to restoring sight.
Since the 1980s, Aramant has been working to fix retinas damaged by diseases including macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.
And for several years now, the team has been treating patients using fetal retinal cells. Their approach is to retrieve an intact sheet of fetal retinal cells and transplant the entire sheet into a damaged eye.
The transplanted cells then mature the same way they would in a developing fetus, creating all the layers of a normal retina, Aramant says.
The team has treated just 10 patients so far, because of funding constraints. But Aramant says seven of those patients got better, including one woman whose vision went from 20-800, which is severely impaired, to 20-200, which is good enough for many daily tasks.
After treatment, Aramant says, the woman was able to play computer games, write emails, and read a large-print version of Reader’s Digest.
Also at the meeting in Chicago, scientists presented studies showing ways to create new light-sensitive molecules in the eye, and to use stem cells to grow specific types of retinal cells.
For more information go to www.maculardegenerationassociation.org
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
MacuCLEAR And Mystic Successfully Complete Phase Ib Clinical Trial For Macular Degeneration
MacuCLEAR, Inc. ("MacuCLEAR") and Mystic Pharmaceuticals, Inc., ("Mystic") announced preliminary successful results of a Phase Ib Clinical Trial for the treatment and prevention of the progression of Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). The preliminary results indicated that MacuCLEAR's MC-1101 drug is safe and well tolerated by study participants, and has a biological effect on blood flow in the back of the retina. Mystic's VersiDoser™ ophthalmic delivery system was used by trial participants to self-administer MC-1101 to the front of the eye during the trial. The study included Proof Of Concept ("POC") indicators. A key finding of the study was the successful migration of the drug to the back of the eye.
"We are very pleased with the groundbreaking results of this study," said Philip G. Ralston, Jr., President and CEO of MacuCLEAR. "We have confirmed the safety of MC-1101 in humans, a primary endpoint for the study." Ralston added, "We are excited about the implications of the proof of concept part of this study. Using special laser Doppler flow instrumentation, we showed MC-1101 gets to the back of the eye and significantly modulates the blood flow in the choroid, the tiny blood vessels in the back of the macula portion of the retina. This study provides additional scientific evidence supporting our theory that restoring blood flow in the choroid will have a positive affect on preventing the progression of this terrible disease that is the leading cause of blindness for people over the age of 50 in the world." MacuCLEAR will publish the full results of study later this year.
Mystic Pharmaceuticals' President and CEO, Timothy Sullivan, stated, "We are pleased to have partnered with MacuCLEAR to develop a drug/delivery system combination that has the potential to provide a simpler, safer and ultimately cost effective solution to the millions of people suffering from this disease." Ralston added that, "Mystic's delivery system provided key benefits for both MacuCLEAR and the trial participants. Mystic's novel unit dose approach to packaging each eyedrop individually enabled us to use a preservative free formulation and the control Mystic's technology provides for calibrated precision dose delivery and spray plume definitely enhanced absorption of the drug to the back of the eye." Patients were able to safely and effectively self-administer MC-1101 throughout the trial using the VersiDoser system. "An overwhelming majority of the trial participants expressed a strong positive preference for using the VersiDoser Delivery System over traditional eye drop delivery," Sullivan concluded. Mystic will publish study results of trial participant preferences for its VersiDoser Delivery System later this year.
Ralston and Sullivan presented a summary of the trial results at the Texas Emerging Technology Fund Investment Symposium on October 8, 2009 at the Renaissance Hotel in Richardson, Texas. MacuCLEAR and Mystic presented the status of the progress of their companies at this symposium featuring companies that have received investments from the State of Texas Emerging Technology Fund.
For more information go to www.maculardegenerationassociation.org
"We are very pleased with the groundbreaking results of this study," said Philip G. Ralston, Jr., President and CEO of MacuCLEAR. "We have confirmed the safety of MC-1101 in humans, a primary endpoint for the study." Ralston added, "We are excited about the implications of the proof of concept part of this study. Using special laser Doppler flow instrumentation, we showed MC-1101 gets to the back of the eye and significantly modulates the blood flow in the choroid, the tiny blood vessels in the back of the macula portion of the retina. This study provides additional scientific evidence supporting our theory that restoring blood flow in the choroid will have a positive affect on preventing the progression of this terrible disease that is the leading cause of blindness for people over the age of 50 in the world." MacuCLEAR will publish the full results of study later this year.
Mystic Pharmaceuticals' President and CEO, Timothy Sullivan, stated, "We are pleased to have partnered with MacuCLEAR to develop a drug/delivery system combination that has the potential to provide a simpler, safer and ultimately cost effective solution to the millions of people suffering from this disease." Ralston added that, "Mystic's delivery system provided key benefits for both MacuCLEAR and the trial participants. Mystic's novel unit dose approach to packaging each eyedrop individually enabled us to use a preservative free formulation and the control Mystic's technology provides for calibrated precision dose delivery and spray plume definitely enhanced absorption of the drug to the back of the eye." Patients were able to safely and effectively self-administer MC-1101 throughout the trial using the VersiDoser system. "An overwhelming majority of the trial participants expressed a strong positive preference for using the VersiDoser Delivery System over traditional eye drop delivery," Sullivan concluded. Mystic will publish study results of trial participant preferences for its VersiDoser Delivery System later this year.
Ralston and Sullivan presented a summary of the trial results at the Texas Emerging Technology Fund Investment Symposium on October 8, 2009 at the Renaissance Hotel in Richardson, Texas. MacuCLEAR and Mystic presented the status of the progress of their companies at this symposium featuring companies that have received investments from the State of Texas Emerging Technology Fund.
For more information go to www.maculardegenerationassociation.org
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