News and Trends 4 Apr 2018 Placebo Beats a Gene Therapy for Blindness in a Phase 3 Trial GenSight has demonstrated that its gene therapy for a rare disease causing blindness can significantly improve the vision of patients. But so does the placebo. GenSight Biologics has released the results of a Phase III clinical trial testing its gene therapy GS010 in patients suffering from Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON), a rare mitochondrial disease […] April 4, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 Mar 2018 French Biotech Restores Vision in Humans with Subretinal Implant Pixium Vision has successfully restored vision in three patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) using an implanted wireless device, offering significant improvements to their quality of life. Pixium Vision has restored vision in three patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), using a wireless microchip, named PRIMA, that is implanted under a patient’s retina. The technology marks a […] March 13, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alexander Burik Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 6 Mar 2018 Oxford Spin-out Moves Gene Therapy For Blindness Into Phase III Trial Nightstar Therapeutics will begin the first Phase III trial for a gene therapy targeting choroideremia, a rare disorder leading to complete blindness. Nightstar will launch the first-ever Phase III trial testing a gene therapy for choroideremia, a genetic disorder characterized by night blindness and gradual loss of vision that eventually leads to complete blindness. The trial, STAR, […] March 6, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Alexander Burik Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 20 Feb 2018 This Gene Therapy for Vision Loss is Safe and Effective After Two Years The results of a long-term follow-up suggest that GenSight’s gene therapy for Leber hereditary optic neuropathy can provide safe and effective treatment for the genetic cause of vision loss. GenSight develops gene therapies to preserve or restore vision in patients with neurodegenerative diseases of the retina. The biotech’s lead candidate is GS010, which is currently […] February 20, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 Feb 2018 ProQR Tackles Blindness Caused by a Rare Genetic Disease ProQR has received €6M from the American charity, Foundation Fighting Blindness, for the development of its treatment for Usher Syndrome – the leading cause of combined blindness and deafness. ProQR focuses on the development of RNA-based medicines for genetic diseases like cystic fibrosis. However, it is the company’s program targeting Usher syndrome, the leading cause of combined […] February 13, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 26 Jan 2018 Update: Bionic Implant Restores Vision in a Human for the First Time Update (26/01/2018): A first patient was implanted with Pixium Vision’s PRIMA bionic device. A month after implantation, the device was activated and the patient, who suffered from severe vision loss due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), reported “a first perception of light from the central zone where there was none previously,” according to principal investigator Dr. […] January 26, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 25 Jan 2018 Novartis Will Bring US Gene Therapy for Blindness to Europe The Swiss pharma has bought into the gene editing therapy game in a deal with Spark worth $170M (€137M) for commercialization rights outside the US. Novartis first marked out its position as a gene therapy leader in 2012 when it threw its hat into the CAR-T ring. Just a few months after the FDA approved […] January 25, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Evelyn Warner Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 24 Jan 2018 New Retinitis Pigmentosa Treatments? This Blood-Retina Chip Could Help! A new ‘organ-on-a-chip’ device for the blood-retina barrier could speed up the development of treatments for eye diseases like retinitis pigmentosa. Researchers from Microelectronics Institute of Barcelona, Vall d’Hebron Research Institute, and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona have developed a microfluidic chip that mimics the human blood-retinal barrier in the eye. The study, published in Lab on a […] January 24, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 10 Jan 2018 French Biotech Starts Trials to Restore Sight in All Types of Retinitis Pigmentosa GenSight will start a clinical trial in the UK testing a combination of gene therapy and a wearable device to restore sight in patients with retinitis pigmentosa. The UK Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has accepted GenSight’s application to run a first clinical trial in the UK testing a new type of therapy with the […] January 10, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 10 Jan 2018 These Dissolving Lenses Could Wash Away Glaucoma Patients’ Problems Students at the Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania, are developing dissolving contact lenses, which could help individuals suffering from glaucoma. A team of students from Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) won second place at the Silicon Valley Innovation Challenge in the Best Global Innovation category for their NanoLens technology. Their idea is to produce contact lenses that contain […] January 10, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Best in Biotech 18 Dec 2017 Smile! Here are the 12 Biggest Biotech Clinical Successes of 2017 Now that we’ve got the bad news out of the way, we’re here to spread some Christmas cheer with the biggest clinical successes in biotech over the past 12 months. It’s unlikely that one whole year will ever pass without a single hiccup, especially in a field as complex as biotech. For that reason, we […] December 18, 2017 - 9 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 8 Dec 2017 A London Biotech Aims to Overtake the Dry Eye Syndrome Market TopiVert has released the results of a clinical trial that the company believes yielded “the best proof of concept data in dry eye syndrome.” Based in London, the biotech company TopiVert is trying to enter the $3Bn market of dry eye syndrome with a drug with the potential to work better than the options currently […] December 8, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email