I finally figured out how to put my current stem cell/cell therapy tables online for anyone interested to access. So, here is a brief description of what is available and how to access them:Stem Cell/Cell Therapy Companies/Institutions Active in Ophtha…
Author: Irv Arons
AMD Update 22: Visual Aids for the Visually Challenged
Earlier this year (back in August), I introduced you to Maurie Hill, a young woman with Stargardt’s disease. She is one of six siblings, two others of whom also have Stargardt’s. (A form of macular degeneration.) Maurie is married and the mother of…
Avastin/Lucentis Update 53: Latest Information on Contaminated Re-Packaged Avastin
Last Summer and Fall, I wrote two reports on the contaminated re-packaged Avastin that caused severe eye problems in some patients that received intravitreal injections for the treatment of their wet form of AMD (Avastin/Lucentis Updates 48 & 49).T…
Gene Therapy in Ophthalmology Update 15: First Gene Therapy Treatment Approved!
As I first wrote back in July (Update 12: First Gene Therapy Approval on the Horizon), the first approval of a gene therapy application in medicine was expected soon. It has now been accomplished. On November 2nd, the European Medicines Agency gave fin…
New Vitamin Regimen Could Extend Useful Vision for Up to 20 Years for Sufferers of Retinitis Pigmentosa and Certain Types of Usher Syndrome (Types 2&3)
The Foundation Fighting Blindness has updated its information on the combined treatment regimen of vitamin A palmitate, oily fish (DHA) and lutein, which may slow vision loss in people with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and Usher syndrome types 2 and 3. Th…
Stem Cells in Ophthalmology Update 23: Maurie Hills’ Story – More Details About The Stargardt’s Clinical Trial Patient
Back in early August, I wrote about Maurie Hill, a Stargardt’s disease patient who is undergoing stem cell treatment as part of the Advanced Cell Technology clinical trial in which an injection of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells derived from h…
Progress Being Made In Treating Eye Diseases Using Regenerative Medicine
Over the past two years, I have written extensively about the human clinical trials underway for treating eye diseases using both stem cells and gene therapy. There are currently eighteen clinical trials using stem cells and sixteen trials using gene t…
AMD Update 21: Good News for Patients With Stargardt’s Disease
Stargardt’s disease (also known as Stargardt macular dystrophy) is the most common form of inherited juvenile macular degeneration. Inherited as an autosomal recessive trait, it is a severe form of macular degeneration that begins in late childhood, …
Gene Therapy in Ophthalmology Update 14: Early Positive Results in Ongoing Gene Therapy Wet AMD and Stargardt’s Disease Studies
Last week, Oxford BioMedica and its partner Sanofi announced positive results in their ongoing gene therapy clinical trials for wet AMD and Stargardt’s disease. In an interim review of their Phase I (RetinoStat) and Phase I/IIa (StarGen) trials, the …
Stem Cells in Ophthalmology Update 22: A Stargardt’s Clinical Trial Patient’s Story – In Her Own Words
Back a few months ago, I got an inquiry about my tables of clinical trials published in my online Journal. I responded to the woman inquirer and found out that she was considering participating in a clinical trial. The inquirer was Maurie Hill. She has…
Iluvien Update 7: Alimera Sciences to Re-File for FDA Approval of Iluvien for Chronic DME
Since my last update in April (Update 6), when the first country, Austria, of an anticipated seven European Union country market approvals was announced, four additional EU approvals have occurred, bringing the total of approvals to five – with Austr…
Gene Therapy in Ophthalmology Update 13: New Clinical Site for Usher Syndrome Clinical Trials
In joint news releases, both the Foudation Fighting Blindness (FFB) and Oxford BioMedica announced that FFB had recently awarded $125,000 to the Centre Hospitalier National d’Ophtalmologie des Quinze-Vingts, a clinical trial site for UshStat, a gene th…
Gene Therapy in Ophthalmology Update 12: First Gene Therapy Approval on the Horizon
As Andrew Pollack writes in today’s NYTimes, “After more than two decades of dashed expectations, the field of gene therapy appears close to reaching a milestone: a regulatory approval. The European Medicines Agency has recommended approval of a ge…
AMD Update 20: How Fovista Works to Increase Vision in the Treatment of Wet AMD
Because I was denied the opportunity to tell you how the combined therapy works, as told by Dr. Pravin Dugel (see AMD Update 19), I decided to take another tack. With the permission of Ophthotech, I would like to explain and illustrate how the combined…
Josef Bille, Laser Surgery Pioneer, Wins Lifetime Achievement Award from European Patent Office
The following writeup was taken from the Optics.org website, with just a few changes.I first met Professor Bille when he was at Intelligent Surgical Lasers (ISL), developing a picosecond laser for intrastromal ablation. I’ve since followed his career…
AMD Update 19: Combination Therapy May Be A “Game Changer” for Wet AMD
You may have seen or heard the news that a new drug, Fovista, from Ophthotech, when used in combination with Lucentis (and probably Avastin), has the potential to greatly improve the outcomes now experienced with anti-VEGF monotherapy. The results from…
Avastin/Lucentis Update 52: Another Point of View
As you know, I have been writing about Avastin and the Avastin vs. Lucentis controversy since January 2006. There are now over 50 postings on this subject, and an additional 35 or so on various treatments for AMD, including the Comparisons of Age-Relat…
Stem Cells in Ophthalmology Update 21: Clinical Trial Details
As with my inquiry into clinical trials underway using gene therapy in ophthalmology, Table 3 Gene Therapy in Ophthalmology – Ongoing Clinical Trial Details, I have undertaken a similar survey of the number of patients currently treated using stem cell…
Gene Therapy in Ophthalmology Update 11: Clinical Trial Details
I have found fifteen gene therapy clinical trials underway to treat various eye disorders. In thinking about this, I wondered how many patients had been treated to date in these clinical trials. Not able to find this information, I decided to undertake…
Stem Cells in Ophthalmology Update 20: ACT Adds Mass Eye & Ear as Fourth Clinical Site for Dry AMD Trials
As announced this morning, Advanced Cell Technology said that Mass Eye & Ear Infirmary had received IRB approval to become the fourth clinical site for ACT’s embryonic stem cell trials in treating the dry form of age-related macular degeneration….