Blog Articles Published in 2015

2015 was another busy year in writing about new developments in treating retinal diseases. During the year, I published seven blog entries (and another four published articles - to be indexed separately). Here are the highlights of the blog writeups:

Additional Marketing Approvals for Iluvien; A New Ophthalmic Application; and An Interesting Human Interest Story - January 7, 2015

Since I last wrote about Iluvien, Alimera Sciences and pSivida have announced additional marketing approvals for its use in treating chronic DME. The product is now approved for use in fourteen countries, including the U.S. In addition, pSivida is about to begin a Phase III study of its Medidur device for the treatment of uveitis, which should lead to a fast-track to approval.

But the real reason for this update was the recently published story about how an eye doctor reached out to Paul Ashton, CEO of pSivida, to package an old HIV anti-viral, ganciclovir, in his drug delivery system, to save the sight of a person undergoing chemotherapy for leukemia, who also needed a bone marrow transplant. The chemo and radiation treatment for the bone marrow transplant weakened his immune system, preventing control of his cytomegalovirus condition that began attacking his retina. Instead of painful weekly anti-viral injections, the doctor sought to use Paul’s drug delivery system to systemically treat the virus in the eye.

To read the whole story and the results, and for the latest information about Iluvien, please follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/IluvienUpdate9

Oraya Therapeutics Now Operating at Nine European Centers and Strikes Partnership Deal with Carl Zeiss Meditec - January 15, 2015

With the presentation of the three-year safety results of the INTREPID study (at EURETINA), to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Oraya Iray Therapy in conjunction with as-needed anti-VEGF injections for wet AMD, and the recent collaboration agreement with Carl Zeiss Meditec, Oraya Therapeutics is well on its way in implementing its growth strategy in commercializing Oraya Therapy in Europe and, some day, in the U.S.

The company now has nine centers providing therapeutic treatment in Europe; four centers in the UK, one in Switzerland, and four in Germany.

To read more about this combination treatment to reduce the number of anti-VEGF treatments needed to control wet AMD, and the collaboration agreement with Carl Zeiss Meditec, please see: http://tinyurl.com/OrayaUpdate3

Avalanche and Univ. Of Washington Collaborate to Defeat Color Blindness - March 27, 2015

Avalanche Biotechnologies in Menlo Park and the University of Washington in Seattle announced a licensing agreement to develop the first gene therapy treatment for treating color blindness. The deal brings together a gene therapy technique developed by Avalanche with the expertise of vision researchers at the University of Washington.

In addition, Avalanche will incorporate research licensed from UCal Berkeley to deliver the gene therapy treatment non-surgically via an  injection into the vitreous, rather than into the retina.

To read more, please follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/AvalancheBio2

A New Laser Procedure to Turn Brown Eyes Blue - April 8, 2015

As Crystal Gayle sang in her smash hit, `Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue', now (soon) you will be able to permanently change your brown eyes to blue. A California company has come up with a laser procedure that will safely accomplish this in about 30 seconds per eye. Human clinical testing is underway and the company, Strōma Medical, hopes to have the procedure on the market (outside of the U.S. first) in less than two years, once the clinical trials are completed.

To read the rest of the story, please follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/brown-to-blue

Laser Vitreolysis Update: Ellex launches a “doctor finder” to find docs using its laser to treat floaters. - June 30, 2015

My article about the use of lasers to treat floaters, written five year ago, remains the most widely read piece on my blog. I frequently am asked if I have updated the list of doctors who now use lasers to treat floaters - in addition to the three I profiled in my U.S. writeup (Using Lasers to Treat Vitreous Floaters: Laser Vitreolysis) and the six doctors in the UK/Europe piece (Using Lasers to Treat Vitreous Floaters: Laser Vitreolysis in the UK and Europe).

I took notice when Ellex Medical announced a new YAG laser specifically for treating floaters in the fall of 2012, and about six months ago, I decided to request a list of doctors who have obtained the laser, and were now treating patients’ floaters. Better than a list, Ellex decided, to respond to my request, by building an app to locate doctors using their laser and put it on their website. That app is now active and is applicable to doctors worldwide using the new Ultra Q Reflex YAG laser to treat floaters. As of June 30th, there are 58 physicians listed worldwide using this laser.

To read more about the laser and use the app, see my update: http://tinyurl.com/vitreolysis-Update

First Spark Therapeutic Phase III Clinical Trial Results and Phase I Longevity Data - Insight into the trial results - October 14, 2015

Some insight into the Spark Therapeutics Phase III clinical trial results and longevity data. In this report, the company’s principal investigator, Dr. Stephen Russell presented highlights of the initial findings in this important Phase III clinical trial, that could lead to the first gene therapy approval in the United States.

Basically, it was found that the injection of SPK-RPR65 did lead to increased functional vision for the treated patients, compared to the control subjects - and the effect appears to last for over three years, based on the original patients treated in the Phase I study.

Is this the “forever fix”, or a step along the way? To read the full story, please follow this link:  http://tinyurl.com/GeneTherapyUpdate22

Oraya Therapeutics Receives Guidance for Adjunctive Use in Germany for wet AMD - October 20, 2015

Three German ophthalmological groups provided guidance for German ophthalmologists to better identify those patients with wet AMD that might benefit from the use of the Iray Stereotactic Radiotherapy System as an adjuctive treatment to the use of anti-VEGFs in the treatment of neovascular macular degeneration, based on studies conducted by the company to date.

To read the full story, please follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/OrayaUpdate4