Author: droberts

Aerpio Therapeutics, Inc. has announced promising results from their “TIME-2” study of  AKB-9778 as a treatment for diabetic retinopathy (DR). AKB-9778 alone and in combination with Lucentis® (ranibizumab) improved underlying retinopathy by 10.0%, and 11.4% compared to 8.8% of patients receiving Lucentis® alone. The clinical findings were presented by Pravin U. Dugel, M.D., at the [Read More]

In 2014, Avalanche Biotechnologies postulated that a single injection of a new gene therapy treatment could possibly stop blood vessel growth and leakage in the wet form of Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) for several years. A single injection of a drug called AVA-101 (aka sFlt-1) could create a kind of biofactory that continuously secretes a therapeutic protein [Read More]

Researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School and the University of Crete have found that high doses of statins (cholesterol-lowering medications) can effectively reduce the number of soft drusen deposits in retinas of people with dry age-related macular degeneration (dAMD). The findings from their phase I/II clinical trial were published in the recent issue of [Read More]

Ophthotech Corporation has announced that the first patient has been dosed in a Phase 2/3 clinical study of Zimura® (avacincaptad pegol sodium) for treatment of advanced dry macular degeneration (MD).  Zimura® is an inhibitor of complement factor C5, a central component of the complement cascade believed to be involved in the development of AMD. The Company has also recently [Read More]

Editorial by Dan Roberts The media is becoming saturated with warnings about the so-called “blue light hazard”. Let’s pull it back a bit by being more specific about who should be most concerned. In 2006, I published a paper titled Artificial Lighting and the Blue Light Hazard. The purpose of the paper was to warn of [Read More]