During the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Retina Subspecialty Day in 2015, Peter K. Kaiser, MD, described six alternative methods being looked at for delivery of anti-VEGF drugs into the retinas of individuals experiencing choroidal neovascularization (CNV). Periodic intraocular injections are currently the only procedure for halting damaging blood vessel growth and leakage. Injections are expensive, time-consuming, and burdensome on the patients, so [Read More]
Category: Latest News
New Combination Therapy Treats Retinal Damage in Diabetics
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]
AVA-101 May Extend Time Between Wet AMD Treatments
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]
High Dose Statins May Be Effective In Treating Dry AMD
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]
New Drug Under Study for Dry MD
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]