Oxford BioMedica acquires intellectual property rights for gene-based ocular products

Oxford BioMedica UK Ltd. (Oxford, U.K.) has entered into a license agreement with the Research Development Foundation, the technology transfer arm of the Clayton Foundation for Research (Houston), the company said in a press release.

The terms of the agreement give Oxford BioMedica exclusive rights to intellectual property that supports its gene-based ocular products RetinoStat and EncorStat. Oxford BioMedica will make an upfront payment and royalties on sales, the company said in the release.
The intellectual property details “a novel method for effective delivery of anti-angiogenic genes to the eye using lentiviral vectors,” the company said in the release.

Bausch & Lomb Introduces New IOL

Bausch & Lomb has introduced Crystalens AO, an aberration free accommodating intraocular lens with aspheric optics, according to a Bausch & Lomb news release.

The Crystalens AO has prolate aspheric surfaces and is designed to be free of spherical aberration and is intended to improve retinal image quality without compromising depth of field, according to the release.

Crystalens is the only FDA-approved accommodating intraocular lens. Unlike a standard cataract replacement lens, Crystalens is designed to not only eliminate a patient’s cataract but to improve the patient’s range of vision.

Although aspheric optics traditionally reduce field of vision because they have negative spherical aberration, the Crystalens AO does not reduce field of vision because it provides zero spherical aberration, according to the release.

The Crystalens AO is comprised of proprietary biosil silicone and has a thin and uninterrupted barrier edge. It will be inserted using the CI-28 injector in a controlled manner through an un-enlarged phaco incision.

Read Bausch & Lomb’s release on Crystalens AO.

Urgent assessment needed to avoid potential blindness

Suddenly seeing floaters or flashes of light may indicate a serious eye problem that—if untreated—could lead to blindness, a new study shows. The results found that one in seven patients with this symptom will have a retinal tear or detachment. “If we detect a tear and laser it, we can save people from potentially going blind,” said Sanjay Sharma, M.D., a professor of Ophthalmology and Epidemiology at Queen’s University and head of the Unit for Cost-Effective Ocular Health Policy at Hotel Dieu Hospital (Ontario, Canada). “But if fluid gets in under the retina and causes it to detach, it may be too late.” Because retinal tears can be extremely difficult to see, high-tech equipment and a thorough peripheral retinal examination are required to detect them, he adds.

Dr. Sharma and colleagues analyzed nearly 200 articles published in the peer-reviewed literature. After a meta-analysis of 17 articles, they noted that a retinal tear occurred in 14% of the cases of new onset floaters associated with an age-related change in the eye’s jelly. “If new floaters are associated with visual loss, a defect in the visual field, or the presence of blood or ‘tobacco dust’ in the eye jelly, the risk of retinal tear is significantly higher,” says Dr. Sharma. “Since retinal tear can lead to detachment in up to 50% of cases, new floaters and flashes is a medical condition that needs urgent assessment.” The results of the study were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, is partially funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Optical technique can identify early diagnosis

An early diagnosis of common ocular diseases can be determined via an optical technique that had never before been used for this purpose, researchers from the University of Granada said. The researchers studied the image quality in subjects affected by one of two pathologies, finding a greater amount of ocular aberrations and a higher level of scattering (term associated with the dispersion that light suffers when passing through the various ocular media) in affected eyes compared with results in healthy eyes.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of central vision loss in developed countries, and mainly affects people over 50 years of age. As far as keratitis is concerned, this condition causes inflammation of the cornea and can cause blindness, due to the severe alterations that the corneal surface may suffer.

Carolina Herrera Ortiz and colleagues measured the image quality with two optical instruments and used a psychophysical test for assessing visual performance. Results from patients with AMD were compared with those obtained from a control group of similar age without any ocular pathology. Thus, the researchers could verify that for individuals affected by this condition there is an increased level of ocular scattering that could be mainly due to the disruption suffered by the light reflected in the damaged retina of the AMD eyes, because a priori optics are not expected to be altered, since it is a retinal pathology. The studies will be published in Cornea and Journal of Modern Optics.

Red reflex test to all newborns recommended

Physicians at The Vision Center of Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles, are strongly advocating a basic eye exam, including a red reflex test, be given to all children shortly after birth, the center said. Angela Buffenn, M.D., M.P.H., Director of the Orbit and Eye Movement Institute and Diana Dennis, M.A. of the Therapeutic Living Center for the Blind, reported on the problem of inadequate childhood vision screenings in Pediatric News. The red reflex test involves looking at the infant\’s eyes through an ophthalmoscope in a dimly lit room to see if there are any abnormalities in the back of the eye or white spots in the eyeball. The test is used to screen for abnormalities in the eye itself as well as ocular misalignment. If the red reflex is found to be abnormal, the child should be examined by a pediatric ophthalmologist in order to test for strabismus (crossed eyes), cataracts, glaucoma, retinoblastoma, retinal abnormalities, and high refractive errors. Oftentimes, the test is first administered by a pediatrician or family physician. The red reflex test has been endorsed as an important part of a well child visit by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.

“Too often we see children with developmental delay whose visual system has not been properly evaluated. Sometimes, parents also think that vision loss is less important than treating the seizure disorder or developmental disability, when the truth is we can address both at the same time,” said Dr. Buffenn.

Alcon to Acquire Optonol, Enter Surgical Glaucoma Market

Alcon has announced that it will acquire privately-held Optonol, Ltd., a medical device company that develops, manufactures and markets novel miniature surgical implants used to lower intraocular pressure in patients with glaucoma, according to an Alcon news release.

With this acquisition, Alcon will acquire Optonol’s Ex-PRESS Mini Glaucoma Shunt and will add device offerings to its current portfolio of pharmaceutical offerings to lower IOP in patients with glaucoma and ocular hypertension.

“This transaction demonstrates Alcon’s strong commitment to providing physicians with comprehensive treatment options for patients with glaucoma, the world’s second leading cause of blindness,” Robert Warner, Alcon’s vice president of U.S. pharmaceutical products, said in the release. “This surgical procedure provides incremental surgeon and patient benefits over trabeculectomy, which is currently considered the standard of care in glaucoma surgical therapy.”

The American Medical Association assigned the Ex-PRESSMini Glaucoma Shunt to CPT 0192T effective July 1, 2008 and it is currently reimbursed by Medicare and other payors.

The closing of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and the receipt of required regulatory approvals and is expected to occur by the end of the first quarter of 2010, according to the release.

Read the release on Alcon’s acquisition of Optonol.

Bepreve found effective for severe itching

Integrated results from two Phase III studies of bepotastine besilate ophthalmic solution 1.5% (Bepreve, Ista Pharmaceuticals, Irvine, Calif.) found the drug to be “as effective in suppressing ocular itching in patients with more severe itching as in patients with all grades of ocular itching,” the company said in a news release.

A total of 157 patients were enrolled in two 7-week, masked, randomized, placebo-controlled Conjunctival Allergen Challenge clinical studies (1 single site, 1 multi-site); 113 patients exhibited bilateral ocular itching grades greater than or equal to 3 at screening during study visit 2. Individuals were assessed at 15 minutes, 8 hours, or 16 hours following instillation at study visits spaced 2 weeks apart during the enrollment period. The difference in mean itching grades (placebo-active) for the more severely affected subjects was within plus or minus 0.1 unit of the differences for the entire intent-to-treat (ITT) population, Ista said. The results were presented during the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology in Miami Beach, Fla. Bepreve was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in September 2009 for the treatment of ocular itching associated with allergic conjunctivitis. Bepotastine has been approved in Japan for systemic use in the treatment of allergic rhinitis since 2000 and urticaria/pruritus since 2002.

Steroids helpful for DME

For patients with diabetic macular edema (DME), intravitreal triamcinolone (IVTA) was able to improve vision in eyes that had continued to deteriorate despite receiving standard laser treatment, researchers at the University of Sydney, Australia, said in a university news item.  In the first three months after treatment, the patients initially treated with both IVTA and laser showed significantly better gains in vision than control group patients who were treated with laser only. After 2 years, patients in the original control group were also treated with IVTA. The beneficial effects persisted in most IVTA-treated patients throughout the 5-year study; however, 80% of patients in the initial IVTA group developed elevated intraocular pressure and 56% of them required therapy, the university said. Also, two-thirds of all patients required during the study period. Similar outcomes have been noted in other studies of steroid-based treatment and thus were not considered new safety concerns by the group.

Bausch & Lomb Introduces the Crystalens® Aspheric Optic (AO) Lens

Bausch & Lomb today announced that it is launching the Crystalens® AO, the first aberration-free accommodating intraocular lens (IOL) with aspheric optics to cataract surgeons worldwide.

Alcon to Enter Surgical Glaucoma Market by Acquiring Optonol

Acquisition reflects increasing importance of glaucoma surgery to preserve visionEntry into glaucoma surgery provides additional near term growth opportunity for AlconHUENENBERG, Switzerland, Dec 14, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Alcon
(NYSE:ACL)
announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to
acquire Optonol, Ltd., a medical device company that develops,
manufactures and markets novel miniature surgical implants used to lower
intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with glaucoma. With this
acquisition, Alcon will acquire Optonol’s Ex-PRESS(TM) Mini Glaucoma Shunt.
This agreement will complement Alcon’s pharmaceutical produc…

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