News

Automated lamellar therapeutic keratoplasty (ALTK) and Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) are both safe and effective techniques for corneal transplantation.

Wavefront-guided photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) with mitomycin C (MMC) offers very similar results, when correcting compound myopic astigmatism, to wavefront-guided LASIK surgery.

AMO pull out of B&L bid

Advanced Medical Optics (AMO) has withdrawn its bid to buy Bausch & Lomb (B&L), according to a letter issued to B&L by AMO president, James V. Mazzo. The decision was made after B&L refused to grant more time to AMO to prove that it could gain the support needed from shareholders.

The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority has approved publication of Alcon's tender offer document for WaveLight AG. This tender offer marks the second step in the completion of Alcon's acquisition of WaveLight.

TareGen has initiated a multicentre Phase II clinical trial for the topically applied TG100801 in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Opko Health has initiated the Phase III COBALT (Combining Bevasiranib And Lucentis Therapy) clinical trial of bevasiranib for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Bayer HealthCare have initiated a Phase III study of the VEGF Trap-Eye for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

A "strong association" has been discovered between use of AMO''s Complete MoisturePlus Multi-Purpose Solution and an increased risk of Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK).

The National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in England is to delay issuing guidance on Lucentis and Macugen after an unprecedented patient outcry over its decision to block access to them.

Carl Zeiss Meditec AG and the Ilmenau University, Germany, have formed a partnership to open a new ophthalmic laboratory at the Institut für Biomedizinische Technik und Informatik in Germany.

ORBIS International has been awarded a $5,000,000 grant from American International Group (AIG) to ensure the growth of its long-term blindness prevention programmes in the developing world.

The role of IOP in glaucoma

The World Glaucoma Association has announced consensus findings that further determine the role of intraocular pressure (IOP) in glaucoma.

LX211 gets fast tracked

The FDA has granted fast track designation to LX211, a next generation calcineurin inhibitor developed by Lux Biosciences.

The Ex-PRESS implant appears to be as effective as trabeculectomy, furthermore it reduces postoperative compliance issues and seems to be safer, according to a paper presented at this year's World Glaucoma Congress held in Singapore.

The EMEA committee for Orphan Medicinal Products has adopted a positive opinion on orphan medicinal product designation for Isotechnika's ISA247, a treatment for chronic, non-infectious uveitis.

C3 gene linked to AMD

The gene, complement C3, has been identified as playing an important role in the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration.

Overall, this study showed that wound integrity was maintained in eyes receiving microcoaxial phaco, while all eyes receiving bimanual phaco had spontaneous wound leakage, increased wound hydration, penetration of ink particles into the anterior chamber and some degree of corneal wound burn

...we have been able to develop some real staging-based guidelines for the therapeutic treatment of keratoconus and, in our opinion, corneal collagen cross-linking is mainly effective in the first and second stage of the disease

Drugs which slow the progress of Alzheimer's disease may also protect patients at risk of eye damage from glaucoma, according to researchers at the University College London (UCL), UK.

DNA leading the way

Gene therapy is not a new concept; scientists have worked tirelessly over the years to try and identify genes that encode particular diseases, with a view to designing therapies that could, one day, eradicate certain debilitating or even fatal conditions.