Blindness News and Research

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Researchers receive NIDDK grant to identify pre-diabetes symptoms

A Biodesign team of researchers, led by Randall Nelson, PhD, has received a new five-year, $3.1 million award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health. Their goal is to discover and validate telltale molecular signs to learn how to predict who will develop the disease long before any symptoms of diabetes appear.

5 May 2010

Osiris Therapeutics' Prochymal granted FDA Orphan Drug Designation

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it has been granted Orphan Drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Prochymal as a treatment for type 1 diabetes mellitus. The FDA instituted the Orphan Drug Act to promote the development of treatments for underserved patient populations. To be eligible for Orphan Drug designation, the treatment must target a disease that affects fewer than 200,000 new patients per year in the United States.

5 May 2010

Early treatment of ROP for high-risk premature babies can improve vision: ETROP study

Scientists have shown that through eye examinations, doctors can identify infants who are most likely to benefit from early treatment for a potentially blinding eye condition called retinopathy of prematurity, resulting in better vision for many children.

4 May 2010

Protect eyes from sun's UV rays to decrease risk of eye diseases, disorders

With summer right around the corner, more people will be spending time outdoors and UV protection will be top of mind. Unfortunately, most people think about the protection of their skin, when they should also be considering the safety of their eyes. In fact, according to the American Optometric Association's (AOA) American Eye-Q® survey, only one-third of Americans said UV protection is the most important factor they consider when purchasing sunglasses.

3 May 2010

Progress in development of gene therapies for inherited blindness caused by rod degeneration

Veterinary vision scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have safely and successfully used a viral vector in targeting a class of photoreceptors of the retina called rods, a critical first step in developing gene therapies for inherited blindness caused by rod degeneration.

3 May 2010

Santen licenses Clinical Data's ATL313 agonist compound for development of ophthalmic treatments

Clinical Data, Inc., and Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., today announced that Santen has exercised its option to license Clinical Data's highly selective adenosine A2A agonist compound, ATL313, for the development of topical treatments for certain ophthalmic diseases, including glaucoma. ATL313, a promising late-stage preclinical compound, has shown significant pharmacological effects in vivo and has been nominated as a clinical candidate.

From Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. 3 May 2010

Report shows increasing rates of AMD among Asians

The May issue of Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, includes a surprising, first report on increasing rates of age-related macular degeneration among Asians, and describes an innovative "bypass" laser surgery that may help many people with central retinal vein occlusion avoid serious vision loss.

3 May 2010

Latinos have higher rates of developing visual impairment than non-Hispanic whites: Researchers

Latinos have higher rates of developing visual impairment, blindness, diabetic eye disease, and cataracts than non-Hispanic whites, researchers found. These are the first estimates of visual impairment and eye disease development in Latinos, the largest and fastest growing minority population in the United States.

3 May 2010

Roche announces results of phase III T-emerge 3 study of taspoglutide in diabetics

Ipsen, a global biopharmaceutical group, today announced that its partner Roche has disclosed results of the phase III T-emerge 3 study in patients with diabetes with taspoglutide, the first once weekly glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogue based on a human sequence. Taspoglutide originating from Ipsen's research is developed by Roche.

29 Apr 2010

Researchers participate in national multi-center trial comparing treatments for diabetic macular edema

A drug may be more effective against the leading cause of adult blindness than laser treatments, a new study has shown.

28 Apr 2010

Phase II clinical trial to test safety and efficacy of transplanted encapsulated islets

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation announced today that it is partnering with Living Cell Technologies, a New Zealand-based biotechnology company focused on developing cell based therapeutics, in a Phase II clinical trial to study the safety and effectiveness of transplanting encapsulated insulin-producing cells from pigs as a treatment for type 1 diabetes with significant hypoglycemia unawareness.

28 Apr 2010

Patients can reduce frequency of Botox- Cosmetic injections and still receive same benefits: Research

Patients can decrease the frequency of Botox- Cosmetic injections after approximately two years and still receive most of the same wrinkle-smoothing cosmetic benefits, according to new research at Oregon Health & Science University.

27 Apr 2010

First patient enrolled in Phase II clinical trial of E10030 for treatment of wet age-related AMD

Ophthotech Corp., a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing ophthalmic therapies for back-of-the-eye diseases, today announced that the first patient has been enrolled in its Phase II randomized, controlled clinical trial of E10030, an anti-PDGF aptamer, in combination with Lucentis® for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

26 Apr 2010

Animal studies demonstrate safety profile of ACT's RPE cell therapy for SMD

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. announced today that it has completed key animal studies in connection with its Phase I multicenter study using embryonic stem cell derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE) cells to treat patients with Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy (SMD), for which it filed an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in November. The studies demonstrated an excellent safety profile with no safety signals such as tumors or ectopic tissues.

24 Apr 2010

Alimera Sciences prices initial common stock public offering at $11.00 per share

Alimera Sciences, Inc. today announced that it priced its initial public offering of 6,550,000 shares of common stock at a price to the public of $11.00 per share on Wednesday, April 21, 2010.

24 Apr 2010

State of California adds Distracted Driving as new area for concentrated effort to SHSP

Driver distractions have joined alcohol and speeding as leading factors in fatal and serious injury crashes. The National Safety Council estimates that up to 25 percent of all crashes in 2008 involved talking on cell phones or texting. To combat this growing threat on our roadways, the State of California has added Distracted Driving as the first new area for concentrated effort to the Strategic Highway Safety Plan.

23 Apr 2010

New gene therapy to restore retinal cone function and day vision

Veterinary ophthalmology researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have used gene therapy to restore retinal cone function and day vision in two canine models of congenital achromatopsia, also called rod monochromacy or total color blindness.

22 Apr 2010

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals presents new data on ALN-TTR01 RNAi therapeutic at amyloidosis symposium

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, presented new pre-clinical data from its ALN-TTR program at the XII International Symposium on Amyloidosis in Rome on April 18 - 21, 2010. ALN-TTR01 is a systemically delivered RNAi therapeutic being developed for the treatment of transthyretin (TTR)-mediated amyloidosis (ATTR), including familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) and familial amyloidotic cardiomyopathy (FAC).

22 Apr 2010

Diabetic mice generate new insulin-producing cells following extreme cell destruction

Type 1 diabetes is the most common cause of diabetes in children, although it may occur at any age. Also called juvenile diabetes, this pathology usually results from autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing cells of the pancreas.

16 Apr 2010

Embryos with two mums to remove the risk of hereditary diseases: new research

New research published in the journal Nature, could pave the way to world’s first genetically modified human baby. The research involves making embryos with genes from one man and two women. There are hundreds or families around the world who are left childless or have serious ill babies because they carry genes for hereditary illnesses. This research may bring hope to such couples. According to scientists on the team, within the next three years these women will be able to avail such techniques. There has been skepticism regarding ethical issues attached to making of “designer babies”.

16 Apr 2010

Blindness News and Research

Researchers receive NIDDK grant to identify pre-diabetes symptoms

Osiris Therapeutics' Prochymal granted FDA Orphan Drug Designation

Early treatment of ROP for high-risk premature babies can improve vision: ETROP study

Protect eyes from sun's UV rays to decrease risk of eye diseases, disorders

Progress in development of gene therapies for inherited blindness caused by rod degeneration

Santen licenses Clinical Data's ATL313 agonist compound for development of ophthalmic treatments

Report shows increasing rates of AMD among Asians

Latinos have higher rates of developing visual impairment than non-Hispanic whites: Researchers

Roche announces results of phase III T-emerge 3 study of taspoglutide in diabetics

Researchers participate in national multi-center trial comparing treatments for diabetic macular edema

Phase II clinical trial to test safety and efficacy of transplanted encapsulated islets

Patients can reduce frequency of Botox- Cosmetic injections and still receive same benefits: Research

First patient enrolled in Phase II clinical trial of E10030 for treatment of wet age-related AMD

Animal studies demonstrate safety profile of ACT's RPE cell therapy for SMD

Alimera Sciences prices initial common stock public offering at $11.00 per share

State of California adds Distracted Driving as new area for concentrated effort to SHSP

New gene therapy to restore retinal cone function and day vision

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals presents new data on ALN-TTR01 RNAi therapeutic at amyloidosis symposium

Diabetic mice generate new insulin-producing cells following extreme cell destruction

Embryos with two mums to remove the risk of hereditary diseases: new research

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

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