News FeedStem cells demonstrated to reverse macular degeneration blindness
April 19, 2009 by admin
scientists have developed the worldas first stem cell therapy to cure the most common cause of blindness. Surgeons predict it will become a routine, one-hour procedure that will be generally available in six or seven yearsa time.
The treatment involves replacing a layer of degenerated cells with new ones created from embryonic stem cells. It was pioneered by scientists and surgeons from the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London and Moorfields eye hospital.
This week Pfizer, the worldas largest pharmaceutical research company, will announce its financial backing to bring the therapy to patients.
The treatment will tackle age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of blindness. It affects more than 500,000 Britons and the number is forecast to increase significantly as people live longer. The disease involves the loss of eye cells.
Under the new treatment, embryonic stem cells are transformed into replicas of the missing cells. They are then placed on an artificial membrane which is inserted in the back of the retina.
Tom Bremridge, chief executive of the Macular Disease Society, said: aThis is a huge step forward for patients. We are extremely pleased that the big guns have become involved, because, once this treatment is validated, it will be made available to a huge volume of patients.a
Embryonic stem cells have the ability to develop into all types of body tissue. Their use is controversial, however, because it involves the destruction of human embryos.
Laboratory trials completed by the British team have demonstrated that stem cells can prevent blindness in rats with a similar disease to AMD. They have also successfully tested elements of the technology in pigs.
The team is led by Professor Pete Coffey, director of the London Project to Cure Blindness, working alongside Lyndon da Cruz, a surgeon at Moorfields.
Coffey said the treatment would take aless than an hour, so it really could be considered as an outpatient procedure. We are trying to get it out as a common therapya.
He welcomed Pfizeras agreement to manufacture the membranes, saying: aThis is a major development because of the size of the partner. We need a big pharmaceutical company to scale it up.
aWe have nearly 14m people within Europe with AMD. This will ensure that the therapy gets through to clinical trials in a safe and effective manner.a
Professor Peng Khaw, director of the Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, added: aThis shows that stem cell therapy is coming of age. It offers great hope for many sufferers around the world who cannot be treated with conventional treatment.a He added: aAll my patients say to me is, aWhen will this stem cell treatment be ready? I want it nowa.a
Pfizeras role would be crucial in bringing production of the membranes to an industrial level.
The team is applying for regulatory approval for trials from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the Human Tissue Authority and the gene therapy advisory committee.
The clinical trial, due within two years, is expected to be the second in the world to use embryonic stem cells on humans. The first, on patients with spinal cord injuries, will start this year in America.
[...] If that clinical trial goes well, UC Davis could move on within a year or two to test the same procedure in people with macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness among seniors. This approach has been tested at UC Davis in mice, and so far it appears to restore vision without dangerous side effects in the eye. See the article, Stem Cells for Macular. New Stem Cell Treatments for patients with Macular Degeneration. Check out the article, Stem cells demonstrated to reverse macular degeneration blindness. [...]