David Hutton

According to University of Michigan researchers, blinding eye diseases like macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma are accompanied by the death of neurons in the retina that leads to blindness.

According to a research team from the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, the technique provides model for studying genesis of age-related macular degeneration and other eye diseases.

As 2022 draws to a close, it has proven to be a year of interesting developments in retina, and the top headlines of the year bear this out.

In a news release, Opus said it will advance preclinical development programs for BEST1– and RHO-related retinal diseases. The deal expands the company’s addressable patient population for its novel treatments for rare inherited retinal diseases.

The research team, led by Jayantha Gunaratne, PhD, senior principal investigator at IMCB, conducted a comprehensive analysis of the eye fluid samples from a well-defined cohort of proliferative DR patients against the control cohort to deduce impaired mechanistic aspects within the eye.

Korean biotech company MDimune Inc. and scientists from the Clear Vision Research Lab at The Australian National University hope to turn recent research milestones into potential treatments for AMD.

Derek Hodkey, president and CEO of Orbis International, discusses key achievements for the company and its Flying Eye Hospital in 2022 and offers his outlook for 2023.

The National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is expanding the effort to understand that connection with a $10.3 million grant.

Steven J. Fliesler, PhD, has been named the 2022 recipient of the Retina Research Foundation’s (RRF) Paul Kayser International Award in Retina Research presented by the International Society for Eye Research (ISER).

The submission follows the U.S. FDA acceptance of the ONS-5010 BLA for wet AMD, with a PDUFA date of August 29, 2023.

According to University of Michigan investigators, the findings could help inform treatments for blindness in humans.

Lawmakers on Tuesday unveiled the $1.7 trillion proposed spending package needed to avert a government shutdown by Friday if both chambers can pass the measure this week.

Company confirms target read-out around the end of 2023 and regulatory submission in Europe in H1 2024. The data will also play an important supporting role in U.S. regulatory submission.

Parexel teams with MyEyeDr. to leverage MyEyeDr.’s 850+ offices across the United States to refer patients into ophthalmology and other therapeutic area clinical trials, expands Parexel’s Community Alliance Network to bring trials to patients where they are.

According to the company, RZ402 is an oral therapy being developed as a potential alternative to invasive and suboptimal injections into the eye.

Investigators have found that cells within retinal blood vessels are endowed with a previously unappreciated ability to acquire resistance against the damaging effects of hyperglycemia in patients with diabetes mellitus.

According to the company, the IDMC recommended continuation of the study based upon the outcome of the futility analysis.

Harrow Health Inc. announced it has reached an agreement to purchase the exclusive U.S. commercial rights to 5 ophthalmic drugs from Novartis AG for up to $175 million, the company announced today.

The results represent a major step towards first in-human clinical studies for this program - the first potential therapy for patients with geographic atrophy secondary to AMD that addresses the underlying causes of the disease.

According to the AAO and Verana Health, the partnership seeks to increase clinical trials access, accelerate recruitment, and advance ophthalmic research.

According to a team of German investigators, visual cells in the human retina may not simply die in some diseases, but are mechanically transported out of the retina beforehand.

According to the company, OPGx-001 is Opus’ first program to enter clinical evaluation and is designed to address vision loss due to mutations in the LCA5 gene, which causes one of the most severe forms of early-onset blinding disease Leber congenital amaurosis.

A breakthrough gene therapy approach, SPVN06 is aimed at stopping or slowing disease progression in patients affected by IRDs and dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), regardless of their genetic background.

According to a news release, the findings build on evidence from a previous study led by the Johns Hopkins researchers that found potentially a third of patients with wet AMD could safely pause therapy after one year of monitoring by a physician.

Ophthalmologists are now armed with new therapies to fight retinal disease.

Discovery CORE and its AI models have been designed to accelerate data analysis and help clinical and academic researchers collaborate more efficiently in real time with their peers on medical and imaging datasets.

In an effort to educate the public on geographic atrophy, Prevent Blindness has created a variety of resources in English and Spanish.

The company is currently developing sustained release ophthalmic therapeutics aimed at reducing the frequency of intravitreal injections required to treat a wide range of retinal diseases.

According to the company, the deal adds pharmaceutical research and development capabilities and further expertise for future product pipeline. It also expands Alcon’s presence in the $20 billion global ophthalmic pharmaceutical category.

The company noted the updated PDUFA goal date is February 26, 2023. The FDA also reiterated that they do not plan to hold an advisory committee meeting to discuss the application.