Neurotech initiates AMD, retinitis studies

Bethesda, MD-Paris-based Neurotech is initiating a phase II human clinical trial here of its encapsulated cell technology (ECT) for the treatment of vision loss due to the dry form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Two additional phase II studies for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa will be conducted during the second quarter.

The dry AMD trial, to be conducted at the National Eye Institute, will test the ECT device, which contains cells that produce the Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor protein, which has slowed or stopped vision loss and improved visual acuity in some patients.