Key points from article :
Retinal tissue has been regrown in three patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Phase I/IIa study conducted by Lineage Cell Therapeutics.
Only patients with dry AMD to actually regrow retinal tissue and improve visual acuity.
OpRegen®, is an allogeneic retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cell transplant therapy.
Administered as a one-time treatment in 30-minute surgery using local anesthesia.
In a 12-person study, 83% reported the vision in the treated eye was at or above baseline.
It doesn’t reverse blindness, may be able to prevent dry AMD from worsening and eventually becoming blind.
“We believe the next trial could be a registrational study,” Lineage CEO, Culley said.
Benefits observed in the retinal restoration patients have been maintained for as long as three years.
"Life-changing” is, in fact what one of the patients called it.
Lineage is patenting the technology internationally under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.
