Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

Get examined during Glaucoma Awareness Month

It happens slowly. Over time, a person's vision will get worse. Until one day, that person can no longer see. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the United States and worldwide. Unfortunately, there is no cure. Once a person's vision is lost, it cannot be regained. That is why Dr. Bizer's VisionWorld is encouraging people to get an examination during Glaucoma Awareness Month.

5 Jan 2011

PanOptica completes $30 million Series A financing

PanOptica, Inc., a private biopharmaceutical company focused on licensing and developing innovative ophthalmology therapies, today announced that it has raised $30 million in a Series A financing. This round was led by SV Life Sciences and Third Rock Ventures.

4 Jan 2011

STAAR Surgical exceeds 200,000 Visian ICL global implants

STAAR Surgical Company, a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of minimally invasive ophthalmic products, today announced that the worldwide total number of Visian® ICL implants in patients has exceeded 200,000. Since 1994, STAAR's Implantable Collamer® Lenses (ICLs) have been used in refractive eye surgery as an alternative to LASIK. Manufactured with STAAR's proprietary Collamer material, Visian ICLs provide a safe and effective alternative in the permanent correction of myopia, hyperopia, and in the case of the Toric ICL, astigmatism.

4 Jan 2011

Lyophilized amniotic membrane in strabismus surgery can cause severe fibrosis

Postoperative adhesions are a major complication in strabismus surgery. Amniotic membrane has been used in the hopes of preventing these adhesions by forming a biological barrier during healing. In an article in the December 2010 issue of the Journal of AAPOS, a team of researchers from Cairo University have discovered that the new approach may also have the opposite effect.

4 Jan 2011

Researchers identify new biological pathway that contribute to glaucoma

In a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of researchers from the Kennedy Krieger Institute and four collaborating institutions, identified a new and unexpected biological pathway that appears to contribute to the development of glaucoma and its resulting vision loss.

4 Jan 2011

Los Angeles Magazine declares LA BioMed physicians as 2011 Southern California Super Doctors

A select 40 physician-researchers at Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center were named 2011 Southern California Super Doctors in the January issue of Los Angeles Magazine.

4 Jan 2011

Aging linked to changes in eye sockets, jaw bones

What makes us look older? Wrinkles and sagging result not just from changes in the skin, but also from aging-related changes in the underlying facial bones, according to a report in the January issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

4 Jan 2011

Brits get free healthy food vouchers in 2011

As the festive season comes to a close the British government has announced a £250 million ($390 million) industry-financed plan to promote healthy eating. Now millions of people will receive vouchers offering discounts on healthy foods. It is a part of the coalition government’s ‘Change4Life’ programme that is targeting Britain’s growing rates of obesity. The Change4Life campaign was initially begun in 2009 by the previous Labour government, which said that if the plan failed to reduce obesity within three years it might look at regulating the food industry. Now the eight month old Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition feels regulations do not do the job but a gentle push towards healthy habits may help.

3 Jan 2011

FDA authorizes Juventas' JVS-100 Phase II clinical trial for critical limb ischemia

Juventas Therapeutics, a clinical-stage regenerative medicine company developing novel therapies for cardiovascular disease, announces that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized commencement of a Phase II clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of its lead product, JVS-100, for the treatment of critical limb ischemia (CLI).

3 Jan 2011

FDA clears ACT's IND to treat AMD using hESC derived RPE cells

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the Company's Investigational New Drug (IND) application to treat Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) using retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs).

3 Jan 2011

Top-line results of TIGER-2 Phase 3 clinical trial for CF treatment

Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today the top-line results from its second Phase 3 clinical trial, TIGER-2, with denufosol tetrasodium for the treatment of cystic fibrosis.

3 Jan 2011

Omega-3 fatty acids may reduce inflammation, disease symptoms and cartilage degeneration

Omega-3 fatty acids from seafood may reduce inflammation, symptoms of gum disease and risk of abnormal heartbeats early after cardiac surgery. One type of omega-3, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), may also have lasting benefits in visual function for years in children whose mothers consume sufficient prenatal DHA.

30 Dec 2010

NEI awards Case Western Reserve $10M for study of retinal diseases

The Departments of Pharmacology and Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have been awarded a $10.1 million grant from the National Eye Institute (NEI) to research and develop new treatments for diseases of the retina, a leading cause of blindness.

29 Dec 2010

Study reports ROP18 protein protects parasite in host cell

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have learned why changes in a single gene, ROP18, contribute substantially to dangerous forms of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. The answer has likely moved science a step closer to new ways to beat Toxoplasma and many other parasites.

28 Dec 2010

Alimera receives FDA CRL for ILUVIEN NDA

pSivida Corp., a leader in developing sustained release, drug delivery products for treatment of back-of-the-eye diseases, including the investigational drug ILUVIEN® for the treatment of Diabetic Macular Edema (DME), today announced that Alimera Sciences, Inc, pSivida's collaborative partner, received a Complete Response Letter (CRL) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding its New Drug Application (NDA) for ILUVIEN. The FDA issued the CRL to communicate its decision that the NDA cannot be approved in its present form.

24 Dec 2010

Health spending and mandates: What is central to the overhaul's implementation and what is not

CQ looks forward and offer analyses regarding how determinations about mandatory and discretionary spending will impact the health law's implementation. Meanwhile, Modern Healthcare reports on a new study exploring how central the individual insurance mandate is to expanding coverage.

24 Dec 2010

Santen files IND for Clinical Data's ATL313 for primary open angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension

Clinical Data, Inc., today announced that Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., has filed an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Clinical Data's highly selective adenosine A2A agonist, ATL313, for the indication of primary open angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension.

From Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. 23 Dec 2010

Enrollment begins in Phase 2 trial of RegeneRx’s RGN-259 in dry eye associated with graft vs. host disease

RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the first patient has been screened and is being enrolled in a Phase 2 clinical trial testing the Company's drug candidate RGN-259 in patients with dry eye associated with graft vs. host disease. The double-blind, placebo-controlled, investigator-sponsored trial is expected to enroll a total of 20 patients over the next several months, with data reported later in 2011. RGN-259 is a sterile, preservative-free topical eye drop formulation of the novel therapeutic peptide Thymosin beta 4, or Tβ4.

23 Dec 2010

FDA approves Novartis' Amturnide for treatment of high blood pressure

Today Novartis announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Amturnide (aliskiren, amlodipine and hydrochlorothiazide) tablets for the treatment of high blood pressure. Amturnide combines the only approved direct renin inhibitor worldwide, Tekturna (aliskiren), with the widely used calcium channel blocker amlodipine and the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ).

23 Dec 2010

Diopsys develops new SD-OCT imaging software for ophthalmologists

Diopsys, today announced the development of software that uses existing Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography images to assist ophthalmologists and optometrists in diagnosing retinal and optic nerve disease such as glaucoma.

21 Dec 2010