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Our congratulations go to Dr Martin Breimer who was the winner of Ophthalmology Times Europe's prize draw at Eurentin 2009.

Kuldev Singh, MD, Professor of ophthalmology, has been appointed chairman of the Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF).

According to The Financial Times, the retinal imaging company, Optos plc has reported a $4.86 million loss and reduced its headcount by 20%.

The Technical Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office has postponed its final decision on two appeals lodged by two competitors against an earlier decision to maintain the European patent for VisionBlue.

New research indicates that patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR) should also be screened for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).

The increased activity in ophthalmic research is reflected in the long list of clinical studies in their various stages: nearly 300 studies of various aspects of glaucoma and close to 250 studies on ocular surface, cornea and dry eye.

According to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association patients taking tamsulosin for benign prostrate enlargement within 14 days of cataract surgery may have an increased risk of complications.

A diabetic retinopathy (DR) progression biomarker software has been developed with the research institute AIBILI (Association for Biomedical Research and Innovation in Light and Image) and Critical Health. The RetmarkerDR is able to calculate and provide important ratios regarding Microaneurysm Turnover (formation and disappearance rates) which are key indicators of progression of retinal diseases like Diabetic Retinopathy.

Speakers at the symposium "Retinal Surgery — New Dimensions in Patient Safety," described three methods/instruments to help surgeons minimize complications during surgery including improved endotamponade applications, new cannula designs and microscope data projections.

Retina navigation is a new retina therapy solution, four years in the making by OD-OS, which means a doctor can image, plan and treat using a single platform. It was demonstrated to over 100 doctors at the Euretina meeting.

The TearLab Osmolarity System is intended to measure the osmolarity of human tears to aid in the diagnosis of patients with signs or symptoms of Dry Eye Disease (DED) in conjunction with other methods of clinical evaluation. It is now in a position to be marketed to clinincal facilities in the United States, having received its FDA 510(k) clearance.

This month 40 ophthalmology graduates from all over the globe will converge on Lugano, Switzerland at the European School for Advanced Studies in Ophthalmology (ESASO) to embark on a brand new post-graduate degree which will give them access to world leaders and experts in a variety of ophthalmic fields.

The 9th Euretina Congress took place during May in Nice, France and was attended, according to the organisers, by around 1700 delegates. This was a seminal event and will be the last of its kind as next year it will join forces with ESCRS (European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons) in Paris from 2–8 September.

The cataract surgery technology landscape including pipeline products at varying development stages comes under scrutiny in a new report released this month.

Results of the evaluation of two-year post-surgical safety and efficacy of canaloplasty to treat open angle glaucoma (OAG) have been published in the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Dr Richard A Lewis et al., concluded that the procedure was safe and effective in reducing IOP in adult OAG patients.

Novagali Pharma, the French pharmaceutical ophthalmic company, is to conduct a Phase III clinical trial of Catioprost (Nova21027) its Investigational New Drug Application (IND).

Oculentis will present its presbyopia correcting LENTIS Mplus IOL at DOC 2009 in Nuremberg to an expert audience. It claims the lens features a completely new approach in multi-focal lens technology.

Non governmental organisations have come together to draw attention to the inequalities in eye care for women worldwide.

The world's largest eye bank, The Tampa Lions Eye Institute for Transplant and Research, Inc. in Florida, which has supplied over 30,000 corneas for transplant and 50,000 eyes for research worldwide over the past 30 years, is to open a state-of-the-art research facility.

A diabetic retinopathy (DR) progression biomarker software has been developed with the research institute AIBILI (Association for Biomedical Research and Innovation in Light and Image) and Critical Health.

Central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) is caused by obstruction of the central retinal vein that that leads to a back up of blood and fluid in the retina, resulting in retinal injury and loss of vision.

Findings, reported online this week,in advance of print in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), are suggesting that the protein kinase JNK1 may have a key role in the development of retinopathy in premature babies.

Three professors from the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology are to become fellows of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) in its first honours list.

A new collaboration between Oxford BioMedica and Sanofi-Aventis is to develop and commercialise gene therapy treatments for retinal degenerative diseases such as Stargardt disease, the form of early-onset macular degeneration and Usher syndrome, a relatively rare genetic disease where sufferers are born deaf and lose vision within the first 10 years of life.

Ophthotech Corp. has announced positive results of a phase I clinical study evaluating E10030, its novel anti-platelet derived growth factor (anti-PDGF) in conjunction with an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF), to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD).

Merck & Co., Inc. and Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., have agreed a worldwide licensing agreement for tafluprost, a prostaglandin analogue under investigation in the US.

Patients suffering from AMD have experienced long-term benefits from using the Macular Health vitamin supplement following the second phase of the Multifocal Electroretinogram (MERG) study at the Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital at the University of Alabama Birmingham (US).

An OTEurope story we ran a couple of weeks ago clearly resonated with reader, Peter Raus in Belgium. Read on to see what he thought.

Visiogen is reporting significant progress in the development of the Synchrony IOL, including the completion of the US phase III study, the formation of Visiogen Europe GmbH and the commencement of commercialization in Europe.

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