Here's a look at some of the latest news regarding ophthalmic drugs and therapies from the past week.
- Regenerative medicine company jCyte and the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine recently reported their investigational therapy for retinitis pigmentosa (RP) has demonstrated a favorable safety and tolerability profile in an ongoing Phase I/II clinical trial. The cell-based approach is intended to rescue sick and dying retinal photoreceptor cells in the diseased retina.
- Retinal therapeutics company Precision Ocular reported earlier this week it has completed raising £15.5 million Series A financing from investors. The investment will reportedly be used to develop programs to treat retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic macular oedema, and will enable the development of the company's next generation ocular drug delivery systems that can administer cell and gene therapies to the back of the eye.
- And pSivida Corp. recently reported new data at the 2016 Annual Meeting & Exposition of the Controlled Release Society regarding preclinical studies of its Tethadur bioerodible technology platform. Tethadur is a tunable, biodegradable, biocompatible silica-based matrix designed for biologics to be loaded into the matrix and to be released at a controlled rate over time as the Tethadur dissolves into silicic acid. Additionally, pSivida announced it plans to consolidate all of its research and development to its U.S. facility in Watertown, Mass.