Stargardt Disease News and Research

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Stargardt disease, also known as Stargardt macular dystrophy or juvenile macular degeneration, is a condition that involves the retina of the eye. The retina is the layer of the eye which is responsible for sensing light. Most people with Stargardt disease have some loss of vision at a young age, either as a child or an adolescent, although some people may retain good vision until adulthood. It is estimated that about 1 in 10,000 people has Stargardt disease.

FDA grants ACT clearance for Phase I/II clinical trial of hESC derived retinal cells in patients with SMD

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the Company's Investigational New Drug (IND) application to immediately initiate a Phase I/II multicenter clinical trial using retinal cells derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to treat patients with Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy (SMD), one of the most common forms of juvenile macular degeneration in the world. The decision removes the clinical hold that the FDA had placed on the trial.

22 Nov 2010

ACT receives patent for RPE cells to treat retinal degeneration

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today that it will be issued U.S. Patent Numbers 7,795,025 and 7,794,704 on Tuesday, September 14th, which continue to extend the company's patent portfolio covering its retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell programs.

15 Sep 2010

ACT comments on federal fund blocking for embryonic stem cell research

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. commented today on yesterday's federal court ruling, temporarily blocking federal funding for embryonic stem cell research involving the destruction of embryos.

26 Aug 2010

Scientific paper explains impact of visual cycle modulation in neurovascular retinopathy

Acucela, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing new treatments for blinding eye diseases, announced today that a scientific paper co-authored by Ryo Kubota, M.D., Ph.D., chairman, president and chief executive officer of Acucela, has been published in Experimental Eye Research. The paper, "Visual Cycle Modulation in Neurovascular Retinopathy" was also co-authored by scientists from Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston and demonstrates for the first time the impact of treatment with a visual cycle modulator (VCM) on retinopathy in an immature eye.

10 Aug 2010

ACT awarded patent for production processes of RPE cells from hESCs

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today that it has been issued U.S. Patent Number 7736896, which is broadly directed to processes developed by ACT scientists for the production of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs).

17 Jun 2010

Retinitis Pigmentosa: Embryonic stem cells for replacement of diseased retinal cells and restoration of sight

An international research team led by Columbia University Medical Center successfully used mouse embryonic stem cells to replace diseased retinal cells and restore sight in a mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa. This strategy could potentially become a new treatment for retinitis pigmentosa, a leading cause of blindness that affects approximately one in 3,000 to 4,000 people, or 1.5 million people worldwide.

25 Feb 2010

New vector carries big genes linked to inherited blindness

Some clinicians and researchers hope that individuals with inherited diseases (such as cystic fibrosis and recessive Stargardt disease, which causes progressive loss of sight) might one day be cured by providing them with a corrected version of their disease-causing faulty gene, i.e., by gene therapy.

16 Apr 2008