Macular Degeneration News and Research

Latest Macular Degeneration News and Research

Cheaper drug to treat wet AMD increases risk of serious eye inflammation

A Queen's University study of two eye drugs used to treat wet Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) has determined the cheaper of the two could lead to eye inflammation, a potentially blinding adverse effect.

19 Jun 2012

Positive results from Salutaris’ episcleral brachytherapy trial on Wet AMD

Positive results from a trial of episcleral brachytherapy to treat Wet Age-related Macular Degeneration (Wet AMD) were presented today at the ARVO Drug and Gene Delivery to the Back of the Eye Conference.

15 Jun 2012

Ophthotech’s Fovista anti-PDGF combination therapy superior to Lucentis for wet AMD

Ophthotech Corporation today announced results from the first clinical trial to show statistically significant superior efficacy over Lucentis (ranibizumab) monotherapy for the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD).

14 Jun 2012

VisionCare expands CentraSight telescope implant provider teams

VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies, Inc., developer of the first FDA-approved ophthalmic telescope implant indicated to improve vision in patients with end-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD), announced today the expansion of its CentraSight™ provider teams nationwide.

8 Jun 2012

DHA prevents age-related vision loss in lab tests

An omega-3 fatty acid found in fish, known as DHA, prevented age-related vision loss in lab tests, demonstrates recently published medical research from the University of Alberta.

31 May 2012

Study examines effects of UV-blocking contact lenses on macular pigment density

Blocking the transmission of ultraviolet light (UV) through a contact lens may have an effect in maintaining the eye's macular pigment density, according to new research presented today at the 2012 British Contact Lens Association Clinical Conference. Existing research suggests that a higher level of macular pigment appears to have a protective effect against age-related macular degeneration, a major cause of severe vision loss for people over the age of 55.

25 May 2012

Optogenetic Therapies for Vision workshop to be held on June 1

The Foundation Fighting Blindness and Massachusetts Eye and Ear will host the Optogenetic Therapies for Vision workshop on Friday, June 1, from 8 a.m.-6 p.m., in Boston.

24 May 2012

GE Healthcare, KUH partner to drive advances in cell therapy technologies

Karolinska University Hospital Sweden and GE Healthcare Life Sciences today announced a joint research collaboration to drive advances in technologies and workflows for use in the rapidly emerging field of cell therapy.

22 May 2012

Human cytomegalovirus associated with neovascular AMD

A team of researchers, including a scientist from the Viral Immunology Center at Georgia State University, have found that a type of herpesvirus infection of the eye is associated with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a disease that causes blindness in the elderly.

22 May 2012

More than 55% of U.S. adults lose or break their sunglasses every year

More than 55 percent of adults in the United States lose or break their sunglasses every year, according to a new report by The Vision Council.

18 May 2012

Researchers create prosthetic retina for patients with AMD

A device which could restore sight to patients with one of the most common causes of blindness in the developed world is being developed in an international partnership.

18 May 2012

New system may help restore vision in eye diseases

Using tiny solar-panel-like cells surgically placed underneath the retina, scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have devised a system that may someday restore sight to people who have lost vision because of certain types of degenerative eye diseases.

14 May 2012

Bayer Yakuhin, Santen enter co-promotion agreement for EYLEA Injection in Japan

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Bayer HealthCare today announced that Bayer's Japanese subsidiary, Bayer Yakuhin, Ltd., and Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. entered into a co-promotion agreement for EYLEA aflibercept) Injection in Japan.

From Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. 8 May 2012

Cellular-level images of the living eye

The same technology used by astronomers to obtain clear views of distant stars is now being used by optometrists to perform incredibly detailed examinations of the living eye.

8 May 2012

Cheaper anti-blindness drug could save NHS £85 million annually

Avastin (bevacizumab), which is used to treat wet age-related macular degeneration – the most common cause of blindness among the elderly costs only £60 per injection. But despite trials showing it is no less effective, another drug, Lucentis, is the current official choice, even though it costs £700 per shot. Avastin is intended to treat bowel cancer, but research by the National Institute for Health Research has shown that it also works just as effectively and safely as Lucentis in treating Wet AMD.

8 May 2012

New data from Acucela’s ACU-4429 Phase 2a trial on advanced dry AMD/geographic atrophy

Acucela Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing new treatments for blinding eye diseases, announced today that the first patient data from the ACU-4429 program were presented during a poster session at The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2012 Annual Meeting.

8 May 2012

No functional difference in effects of Lucentis and Avastin on preventing vision loss

The one year results from a study into whether two drug treatments (Lucentis and Avastin), are equally effective in treating neovascular or wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD), have been reported today at an international research meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The findings will also appear online shortly in the leading journal Ophthalmology.

7 May 2012

Oral nutriceutical restores vision to otherwise hopeless patients facing permanent loss

There may be new found hope for patients whose vision is threatened when medicine injected directly into the eyes fails to cause abnormal blood vessels to recede. While injectable drugs called angiogenesis (an-gee-oh-jen-esis) inhibitors are considered a modern miracle and have become the standard of care for patients with the fast-progressive form of macular degeneration, they are not foolproof.

7 May 2012

Researchers identify new mechanism that causes choroidal neovascularization

Sloppy shipping of a donated human retina to an Indiana University researcher studying a leading cause of vision loss has inadvertently helped uncover a previously undetected mechanism causing the disease. The discovery has led researchers to urge review of how millions of dollars are spent investigating the cause of a type of age-related macular degeneration called choroidal neovascularization.

5 May 2012

Bevacizumab equivalent to ranibizumab in treating wet AMD

In a landmark drug-comparison study, Cleveland Clinic researchers found that bevacizumab (Avastin) is equivalent to ranibizumab (Lucentis) in the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) through two years.

2 May 2012