Stem cell therapy for vision loss shows promising first results

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A company that has spent more than 20 years trying to develop treatments based on embryonic stem cells is taking encouragement from small, preliminary tests of the cells in people with progressive vision loss. If the technique continues to impress in larger trials designed to assess its effectiveness, it could become the first therapy derived from embryonic stem cells to reach the market.

A study of four patients, published in Stem Cell Reports on April 30, shows that injection of retinal cells derived from stem cells is safe for people with macular degeneration. The report follows similar results from a trial in 18 patients that was published previously.

Both studies were meant to assess safety only, and neither included a control group. In the latest study, conducted by researchers in Korea and the United States, three participants were able to read nine to 19 more letters further on an eye chart a year after treatment — but two of the three also gained some ground in their untreated eyes.

Ocata’s approach is to use coax embryonic stem cells to develop into the cells of a critical, pigmented layer of the retina called the retinal pigment epithelium. In people with macular degeneration, this layer is gradually lost — along with the photoreceptors and other cells important for vision that the retinal pigment epithelium supports. Ocata does not coax its cells to form sheets; instead, it injects individual cells directly into the eye.

Previous studies had been done mainly in white patients. The latest results from Ocata and its collaborators in Korea are important, Wong says, because Asian patients tend to have different genetic risk factors for macular degeneration.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Stem cells pass safety test in vision-loss trial

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