Fovista®, a once-promising experimental drug for treatment of wet macular degeneration, has failed to show positive results in Phase 3 trials. This is surprising, since, on June 14, 2012, Ophthotech Corporation reported a 62% higher relative visual benefit when Fovista (1.5 mg) was used in combination with Lucentis in Phase 2b clinical trials. Based upon those
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A new non-invasive technology from LumiThera Inc. may help improve vision in  people with dry age-related macular degeneration. Photobiomodulation involves exposure of the retina to light from diodes emitting red, yellow, and infrared wavelengths. Researchers in Switzerland and Toronto recently found that treating eyes three times a week for three weeks improved best corrected visual
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Eye drops continue to show promise as future treatments for wet AMD and other eye diseases involving blood vessel growth and hemorrhaging in the retina. In a presentation at the 2015 Ophthalmology Innovation Summit at the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Paul G. Chaney (President and CEO of Panoptica) reported preliminary results from the PAN-90806 clinical
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Genentech, makers of Lucentis® (ranibizumab injection) for wet AMD, has been approved for Priority Review by the FDA to study Lucentis for the treatment of myopic choroidal neovascularization (mCNV). Also known as degenerative myopia, mCNV is a complication of severe near-sightedness that can lead to uncorrectable visual impairment. The FDA’s approval is based on results from the Phase
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RADIANCE is a Phase III, 12-month, randomized, double-masked, multicenter, active-controlled study comparing the efficacy and safety of Lucentis (0.5 mg) versus verteporfin photodynamic therapy (vPDT) in 277 patients with visual impairment due to myopic choroidal neovascularization (mCNV). Patients were randomized into three treatment groups: 106 patients in group I received treatment with Lucentis on study
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Past studies have shown that high-contrast visual stimulation can help damaged retinal neurons regrow optic nerve fibers. By combining that knowledge with new research showing that increased activity of a protein called mTOR promotes optic nerve regeneration, scientists are hoping for a way to restore sight lost to glaucoma and other optic neuropathies. So far,
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by Dan Roberts A recent online nationwide poll (1) has joined similar past studies in revealing that people consider vision loss to be the “worst ailment that could happen to them relative to losing memory, speech, hearing, or a limb.” The researchers’ intent was to “underscore the importance of focusing on preservation of eye health and the
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Genentech, Inc., a leading pharmaceutical developer, is currently conducting two phase III trials studying the drug lampalizumab as a potential treatment for advanced dry macular degeneration, also known as geographic atrophy (GA). Patients who have been diagnosed with GA are encouraged to participate in the trials, which are being conducted at hundreds of locations in
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Tests in a mouse model of macular degeneration have shown that anti-depressant drugs already on the market prevent damage to the light cells in the retina. In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a University of Wisconsin—Madison research team pinpoints how immune abnormalities beneath the retina result in macular degeneration.
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Switching from Lucentis to Eylea could result in worsening of the retinal condition of some people with wet (exudative) AMD. Since the advent of anti-VEGF drug treatments for wet AMD, research has verified that blood vessel growth and leakage (neovascularization) usually diminishes in patients who are switched from either Lucentis or Avastin to Eylea. A small
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