Macular Degeneration AMD - Biotech, Pharma and Life Science Channel
Macular degeneration in the elderly (AMD) is a major cause of blindness. Its prevalence increases to 30% in patients 75 to 85 years of age. AMD occurs in two forms: dry and wet AMD. Central geographic atrophy, the “dry” form of advanced AMD, results from atrophy to the retinal pigment epithelial layer below the retina, which causes vision loss through loss of photoreceptors (rods and cones) in the central part of the eye. While no treatment is available for this condition, vitamin supplements appear to slow the progression of dry macular degeneration and, in some patients, improve visual acuity. Neovascular or exudative AMD, the “wet” form of advanced AMD, causes vision loss due to abnormal blood vessel growth in the choriocapillaries, ultimately leading to blood and protein leakage below the macula. Bleeding, leaking, and scarring from these blood vessels eventually cause irreversible damage to the photoreceptors and rapid vision loss if left untreated.
It is only recently that new drugs have been approved for wet AMD which halt progression of the visual loss or even lead to improvement. The humanized antibody fragment ranibizumab (Lucentis) directed against vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was developed by Genentech and Novartis has been approved in more than 70 countries worldwide since 2006 and posted record sales of US$ 1.76 bln in 2008.
The proven effectiveness and commercial success of the anti-VEGF treatment of wet AMD has encouraged many companies to develop new treatments of wet AMD based on the proven target VEGF as well as on other experimental approaches (anti-angiogenic, anti-proliferative, anti-inflammatory). More than 20 different approaches are in clinical development and more than 20 preclinical stage projecs are under evaluation for wet AMD. Among the projects are many biologics (antibodies, peptides, proteins, antisense, DNA, cells) facilitated by the topical (intravitreal administration). Small molecule approaches may confer the convenience of oral administration but efficacy still has to be demonstrated. Fewer projects are in clinical development for dry AMD, but the most prominent ones have reached advanced clinical testing, but definitive results are still lacking.
News Articles
Ohr Pharmaceutical Appoints June S. Almenoff to Board of Directors
NEW YORK, May 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Ohr Pharmaceutical Inc. (OTCQB: OHRP), a pharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapeutics for unmet medical needs, today announced th...
At The Royal College of Ophthalmologists Annual Congress yesterday, results were presented from a cohort study evaluating the use of a minimally invasive retrobulbar episcleral br...
SAN DIEGO, May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- TRACON Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company that develops targeted therapies for oncology and ophthalmology, today announced multiple clinical inve...
Data Show Promise of PRM-151 in Diseases Involving Fibrosis Promedior, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company developing novel biologic therapeutics for th...
Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (“ACT”; OTCBB: ACTC), a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, today confirmed that the vision of a patient enrolled in a clinical...
LEUVEN, Belgium, May 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- JETREA® gaining acceptance from the US retina community. US sales through end of April 2013 have exceeded $10 million Phase IIa study eval...
Los Angeles Eye Doctor, Dr. Rabbani, Offers Alternative Eye Care
LOS ANGELES, May 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. R. Anthony Rabbani, Los Angeles eye doctor, is pleased to announce that he offers alternative eye care for his patients in his Toluca Lake practice...
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., May 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The results of the second largest ophthalmic study in history were released on May 5, 2013 by the National Eye Institute (NEI) and confirms that Mac...
BioTime, Inc. (NYSE MKT: BTX) and its subsidiary Cell Cure Neurosciences Ltd. (Cell Cure Neurosciences) today announced that Cell Cure Neurosciences has been awarded a grant of 5....
Doctor Writes Guide for Macular Degeneration Eyeglasses
FARMINGTON, Conn., May 10, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Dr. Randolph C. Kinkade, a Connecticut optometrist and founding member of the International Academy of Low Vision Specialists, has written the Gu...
Events
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Companies
Promedior has developed a novel drug discovery platform to regulate the monocyte-derived cell populations that play key roles in fibrotic, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. By...
Acucela Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on leveraging promising science in visual cycle modulation (VCM) to develop new methods for treating blinding eye di...
With a history of over 150 years, Reichert Inc., of Buffalo, NY, continues to be a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-quality diagnostic instruments and equipment...
Imagen Biotech, Inc. is a private, venture-backed biopharmaceutical company focused on identifying and developing therapeutics for blinding diseases with high unmet medical needs,...
Akebia Therapeutics is a discovery and development company focused on anemia and vascular disorders. Akebiaâs lead program, AKB-6548, an orally bioavailable HIF-prolyl hydrox...
Gene Signal (www.genesignal.com) is developing a robust pipeline of novel antisense oligonucleotides, proteins and monoclonal antibodies to treat a range of conditions based...
Clearside Biomedical is an ophthalmic company specializing in the research, development and commercialization of therapeutic products through a proprietary ocular microinjection p...
RetroSense Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing a game-changing gene therapy to restore vision in patients suffering from blindness due to retinitis pigmentosa (RP)...
Nocimed, LLC is a privately held Delaware limited liability company with its principal operations based in Redwood City, CA. Nocimed was founded in 2008 to develop technologies fo...
SOOFT italia S.p.A. a Company of OOgroup , is an Italian pharmaceutical firm specialized in the research of new solutions , in carrying out and marketing of products for general a...
Clinical Trials
This study will compare the safety and efficacy of the 700 ug dexamethasone intravitreal implant with ranibizumab 0.5 mg intravitreal injections in patients with diabetic macular edema (DM...
Intravitreal LFG316 in Patients With Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD)
This study is designed to test the efficacy of twelve successive monthly doses of intravitreal (IVT) LFG316 on the growth of geographic atrophy (GA) lesions. The study will also provide in...
Alleviated Positioning for Small Macular Holes
Rational of the study: There are arguments to think that the closure of macular holes can be obtained without a strict positioning under certain conditions, i.e. hole size ≤ 400 µm, if...
To address the following issues: (1) the course of small nerve fiber degeneration in type 2 diabetic patients, especially in asymptomatic patients; (2) the influence of blood sugar control...
This open label extension will treat all the eyes of study participants with active study medication (intravitreal triamcinolone) as well as standard laser treatment where appropriate....
This study evaluates the tolerability and safety of 3 months treatment with PTK787 tablets given daily. It also explores the efficacy of the compound in patients with wet age-related macul...
Steroid Injections vs. Standard Treatment for Macular Edema Due to Retinal Blood Vessel Blockage
This study will compare the safety and effectiveness of two treatments-injections of triamcinolone acetonide into the eye vs. standard laser therapy-for macular edema (swelling in the cent...
Treatment of Diabetic Macular Edema: Triamcinolone Injections Vs. Laser Photocoagulation
This study will compare the side effects of two treatments for diabetic macular edema, in which blood vessels in the retina (tissue that lines the back of the eye) become leaky and the ret...
The use of intravitreal injections of corticosteroid (triamcinolone acetonide) appears to be a promising treatment for a variety of ocular diseases associated with inflammation. To date, t...
Triamcinolone Acetonide Plus Laser Therapy to Treat Age-Related Macular Degeneration
This study will test the safety and effectiveness of combining a laser treatment called photodynamic therapy, or PDT, with injections into the eye of the steroid triamcinolone acetonide fo...
PubMed Articles
BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical phenotype and investigate the molecular genetic defect in a Chinese family with autosomal dominant cone-rod dystrophy (ADCRD). METHODS: Family his...
Subconjunctival Palomid 529 in the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration.
BACKGROUND: Recent evidence suggests that neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) may have an immune mediated component. Palomid 529, an investigational medication involving the immune Akt/...
BACKGROUND: Previous studies have proven that long-lasting success in the therapy of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and other neovascular retinal diseases depends on monthly follow...
BACKGROUND: The main purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of fundus autofluorescence (FAF) and area of soft drusen among the fellow eyes of unilateral typical age-related macula...
STUDY DESIGN.: Laboratory study. OBJECTIVE.: To evaluate expression of chemokine regulated and normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES)/C-C motif ligand 5 (CCL5) and interleukins in intervertebra...
Evaluation of intervertebral disc cartilaginous endplate structure using magnetic resonance imaging.
PURPOSE: The cartilaginous endplate (CEP) is a thin layer of hyaline cartilage positioned between the vertebral endplate and nucleus pulposus (NP) that functions both as a mechanical barrier and as a...
Protein aggregation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the aggregation of ubiquitinated proteins in affected motor neurons. Recent studies have identified several new mole...
The purpose of this study was to identify differences in knee proprioceptive accuracy between subjects with early knee osteoarthritis (OA), established knee OA, and healthy controls. Furthermore, the...
Visual signal transduction takes place on the surface of flat membrane vesicles called photoreceptor discs, which reside inside the light-sensitive outer segment organelle of vertebrate photoreceptor...
Degeneration of the corpus callosum (CC) is evident in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the correlation of microstructural damage in the CC on the cognitive performance of patien...
Videos
NEI: Age-Related Macular Degeneration
National Eye Institute doctor explains age-related macular degeneration.
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Insomnia, Fatal Familial
An autosomal dominant disorder characterized by degeneration of the THALAMUS and progressive insomnia. It is caused by a mutation in the prion protein (PRIONS).
Chondromalacia Patellae
A degeneration of the ARTICULAR CARTILAGE of the PATELLA, caused by a decrease in sulfated MUCOPOLYSACCHARIDES in the ground substance. When accompanied by pain, it is sometimes considered part of or confused with PATELLOFEMORAL PAIN SYNDROME.
Subacute Combined Degeneration
A neuropathy due to VITAMIN B 12 DEFICIENCY or to excessive NITROUS OXIDE inhalation. It is associated with overproduction of the myelinolytic TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR-ALPHA.
Osteochondrosis
Any of a group of bone disorders involving one or more ossification centers (EPIPHYSES). It is characterized by degeneration or NECROSIS followed by revascularization and reossification. Osteochondrosis often occurs in children causing varying degrees of discomfort or pain. There are many eponymic types for specific affected areas, such as tarsal navicular (Kohler disease) and tibial tuberosity (Osgood-Schlatter disease).
Tracheobronchomalacia
A congenital or acquired condition of underdeveloped or degeneration of CARTILAGE in the TRACHEA and the BRONCHI. This results in a floppy non-rigid airway making patency difficult to maintain.
