Lineage Cell Therapeutics is currently undertaking new research; however, it is important to note that no new treatment has emerged at this time, as the research remains in the clinical trial stage.
June 13, 2021, by: Gail Dutton
By filing under the PCT, the allowed claims of national patents based on the PCT application would have an estimated expiration date no earlier than May 24, 2041, which is somewhat longer than those filed one country at a time.
Retinal tissue has been regrown in three patients with age-related macular degeneration with geographic atrophy or dry (atrophic) AMD in a Phase I/IIa study conducted by Lineage Cell Therapeutics.
Retinal tissue has been regrown in three patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with geographic atrophy or dry (atrophic) AMD in a Phase I/IIa study conducted by Lineage Cell Therapeutics.
“This has the potential to offer a whole new paradigm to treat the disease,” Brian Culley, CEO of Lineage, told BioSpace.
Adding to the original findings reported last year, two additional patients treated in November demonstrated a reduction in atrophied retinal tissue, making them – to the company’s knowledge – the only patients with dry AMD to actually regrow retinal tissue and improve visual acuity.
The treatment, OpRegen®, is an allogeneic retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cell transplant therapy. In a 12-person study of dry AMD patients who retained some vision, 83% reported the vision in the treated eye was at or above baseline. Coincidentally, the same percentage reported that vision in their untreated eye worsened. So, although OpRegen® doesn’t reverse blindness, by causing tissue to regrow, it may be able to prevent people with dry AMD from worsening and eventually becoming blind.
In the study, RPE atrophy was measured using clinical high-resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT). It showed new areas of RPE monolayer with overlying ellipsoid zone, external limiting membrane, and outer nuclear layer that were not present during the baseline assessment. Visual acuity likewise increased.
These findings suggest the new RPE cells integrated with functional photoreceptors in areas that previously lacked those cells. The effects were most prominent in the transitional area around the primary area of geographic atrophy. Taken all together, they support the notion that atrophic AMD is reversible and that some portion of the diseased retinal tissue can be recovered.
Read more: https://www.biospace.com/retinal-tissue-restored-in-patients-with-dry-amd-heralding-paradigm-shift
Source: BioSpace