News

As dry eye syndrome (DES) affects more and more patients over the next 10 years, pharmaceutical companies are expecting to expand their clinical products globally to treat the condition, thus tripling the market’s global revenue over the next decade.

Allergan Inc. has named Douglas S. Ingram as the company’s new president. Ingram will lead the company’s global commercial operations, with responsibility for its broad portfolio of pharmaceutical, consumer, and medical device products.

Deep sclerectomy augmented with implantation of a gold mini-shunt (Gold Mini Shunt Plus, SOLX) in the suprachoroidal space is a safe and effective technique for lowering IOP in eyes with moderate to advanced open-angle glaucoma, according to findings from researchers at the University of Montreal.

Bausch + Lomb (B + L) has acquired an option to license an investigational compound currently in phase II development for the treatment of dry eye syndrome. The compound, called MIM-D3 and developed by Mimetogen Pharmaceuticals Inc., has the potential to be the first in a new class of agents called TrkA agonists, said the companies in a joint statement.

The European Commission has granted Novartis Pharmaceuticals a new indication for ranibizumab (Lucentis) to treat patients with choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to pathologic myopia.

U.S. News & World Report has released its annual Best Hospitals rankings for 2013-2014. Rounding out the top three ophthalmology hospitals in the United States are: Bascom Palmer Eye Institute; Wills Eye Hospital; and Wilmer Eye Institute.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) plans to implement the first comprehensive eye disease patient database in the United States.

Abbott announced it intends to purchase Silicon Valley-based ophthalmic device company OptiMedica Corp., as well as Brazilian ophthalmic surgical distributor Vistatek.

Ellex Medical Lasers Ltd. announced that it has launched its proprietary selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) technology in the United States.

In the optical dispensaries of many ophthalmology practices, there exists a problem: deciding the pricing strategy.

Vision loss caused by diabetic macular edema increases the health and financial burdens of managing diabetes, especially for long-haul truckers who rely on their eyesight to maintain employment.

Pupils can be pharmacologically dilated after death, according to the results of a recent study. The study examined pupillary dilation of postmortem eye bank eyes, which may facilitate postmortem examination and screening through modalities such as fundus photography and fundus optical coherence tomography.

Drug modulates visual cycle activity, reduces oxidative stress, slows accumulation of toxins

Slow release of surrogate proteins over several months has been demonstrated in vitro from injectable hydrogel depots. This technology could help create long-term, sustained-release treatments of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor drugs.

Through improved communication and coordination with patients and other health care professionals as well as advocacy for increased or maintained funding for prevention of vision-related problems, ophthalmologists can help decrease costs associated with eye disorders and vision loss, according to a report commissioned by Prevent Blindness America.

Human ocular tissue has a critical role in helping researchers understand and find new treatments for diseases that include glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, and cataract.

Data analyses found a strong association in women between estrogen metabolism pathway single-nucleotide polymorphisms and high-pressure, open-angle glaucoma.

In the first clinical trial of ALG-1001 in wet AMD, there was an apparent clinical benefit to patients, as evidenced by improvements from baseline visual acuity and macular anatomy.

The lesson of flight 214 for us in medicine is that we should be creating teams of people (physicians, nurses, anesthesiologists, technicians, etc.) who know each other, can anticipate what is coming next, and communicate well.

A new fixed-dose combination medication (Simbrinza, Alcon Laboratories) for the reduction of elevated IOP combines brinzolamide 1%, a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor, and brimonidine tartrate 0.2%, an alpha 2 adrenergic receptor agonist, in one multidose bottle. The drug is also the only available, fixed-dose combination therapy for glaucoma without a beta blocker in the United States, according to the manufacturer.

Since its founding by world-renown glaucoma specialist Robert Ritch, MD, in 1984, The Glaucoma Foundation has been funding groundbreaking glaucoma research, primarily in the areas of neuroprotection and genetics. Now, the foundation has sharpened its focus to finding a cure for exfoliation syndrome, the leading identifiable cause of open-angle glaucoma worldwide and the most important cause of complications during routine cataract surgery.

InSite Vision Inc. has received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for its next-generation, enhanced drug-delivery system (DuraSite 2) that provides a broad platform for developing topically delivered ocular drugs.

TearLab is partnering with the Sjögren’s Foundation to promote “Dry Eye Disease Awareness Month” this year. Throughout July, TearLab will raise awareness through professional communications and in-clinic materials delivered directly to customers.

Indications for riboflavin ultraviolet crosslinking have been expanding. As such, the technology may be useful for more than just treating keratoconus-by filling a gap in which other surface therapies sometimes cannot be effective.

Retina Implant AG, a developer of subretinal implants for patients blinded by retinitis pigmentosa (RP), has received the CE Mark for its wireless subretinal implant technology (Alpha IMS).

The discovery of a new layer in the cornea has many surgical and clinical implications. This layer can support the endothelium in the procedure of endothelial keratoplasty, making the handling of Descemet’s membrane transplant safer and technically simpler, according to its discoverer Harminder S. Dua, MD, PhD.

Results of a retrospective analysis of eyes undergoing cataract surgery with intraoperative guidance of IOL power selection using wavefront aberrometry (ORA System, WaveTec Vision) show it has value for improving refractive predictability, especially in long and short eyes.

Early FDA data with a femtosecond laser platform (VisuMax, Carl Zeiss Meditec) show positive results for corneal refractive surgery to treat uncomplicated myopia.

Initial FDA clinical trial outcomes of a femtosecond laser system (VisuMax, Carl Zeiss Meditec) to correct spherical myopia showed solid clinical and safety results.

Results from long-term follow-up support the use of a bifocal corneal inlay (Flexivue Microlens, Presbia) for presbyopia correction in emmetropic patients.