Two UK patients with vision loss from age‑related macular degeneration regained sight using a stem cell‑based retinal patch developed at UC Santa Barbara. Early results from this Phase 1 trial appeared in Nature Biotechnology.
AMD is a leading cause of blindness, affecting more than six million people worldwide. It blurs or eliminates central vision by damaging the macula, a key part of the retina. AMD varies by stage and comes in wet and dry forms. Dry AMD is most common, affecting 90 percent of patients and progressing slowly.
Patching Up Vision Loss
UCSB researchers engineered a retinal patch from human embryonic stem cells. They matured these cells into retinal pigment epithelium, which is damaged in AMD. The RPE layer was placed on a synthetic patch and implanted under the retina to replace lost cells and restore vision.
Doctors are implanting these stem cell patches in patients with severe wet AMD at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. The trial comes from the London Project to Cure Blindness, a collaboration between Peter Coffey and Lyndon da Cruz. Coffey is a CIRM grantee and credits a CIRM Research Leadership award for supporting this work.
The trial treated ten patients and reported one‑year results for two of them. All patients received local immunosuppression to prevent rejection. Three serious adverse events occurred, but each was successfully treated. Twelve months after treatment, both patients showed major vision gains, going from unable to read to reading 60–80 words per minute with normal glasses.
Successfully Restoring Sight
Douglas Waters was diagnosed with wet AMD in July 2015 and received treatment months later. He described major vision improvement after the procedure. He said he had lost sight in his right eye and struggled with close‑up tasks. After surgery, he could read the newspaper and help with gardening. He called the results brilliant and felt lucky to regain vision.
This treatment is the first fully engineered tissue used successfully in this way. Both patients showed dramatic improvement, and the patch worked in advanced AMD.
The team will monitor patients for five years to ensure safety and check for side effects. Peter Coffey said the study marks real progress in regenerative medicine. He hopes it leads to an affordable, off‑the‑shelf therapy for NHS patients within five years.
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My daughter is 32 was diagnosed with stargardts at age 10. The defective genes have been identified. How can we find out more.
You can learn more about this clinical trial ongoing in the UK by visiting the London Project to Cure Blindness website: http://thelondonproject.org. Here is a link to the original press release about this trial including contact information: http://thelondonproject.org/?q=latest-news/press-release-patients-regain-sight-after-being-first-receive-retinal-tissue-engineered
This is great news. How does one know which type of MD one have ?. Is this the same as RP ?
Hi Willie. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP) both affect the retina of the eye and cause vision loss, but they are different diseases. AMD affects the cells in the macula of the retina, which causes blurriness or loss of central vision. Patients with RP don’t experience damage to the macula but to a different part of the retina that causes them to lose their peripheral vision. The best way to find out what type of AMD you have is to go to a doctor and get diagnosed.
My mother underwent a radiotherapy for remival of a tumour and her optic nerve has damaged. She had blurred vision for many years and last year she developed Occlusion. Due to this she cannot see at all. Would this treatment be of any use to her? Please suggest. Thanks in advance.
Hi Ketki, we are very sorry to hear about your mom’s condition. We suggest that you contact the researchers who developed this technology as they will be able to best answer your questions.
Is there a trial going on in the US? My dad has wet MD in one eye and dry in the other. He is now totally blind. He would jump at the chance to be part of a trial.
I am not aware of a trial testing this treatment in the US. I would contact the London Project to Cure Blindness to inquire about future trials outside of the UK.
Great news for amd suffers my dad is 89 years old and has it. It has impeded on every aspect of his life to the point that he is depressed has lost his confidence he has heard about this treatment and it has given him hope even though he thinks it might be to late for him but hopefully it will help others as there seems to be so many affected by it
I WISH YOUR WEB SITE WAS MORE READABLE FOR ME DUE TO THE FACT THAT I HAVE AMD IN BOTH EYES, BOLD TYPE WOULD BE A PLUS AND NO BLACK BACKGROUND IN YOUR WEB WOULD ALSO HELP ME, AND I WOIULD LOVE IT IF YOU PASS MY EMAIL ADDRESS TO WHOEVER IS DOING CLINICAL TRIALS ON DRY AMD. I JUST TURNED 70 OCT 23 , 2018 AND I AFRAID THAT IF I LOOSE MY EYESIGHT I WILL CERTAINLY TAKE THE POSITION THAT LIFE WOULD NOT BE WORTH LIVING WITHOUT SEEING. MY EMAIL IS SHEPBANK@GMAIL.COM OR SHEPBANK@HOTMAIL.COM…ANY ASSISTANCE IS MOST GREATFULLY APPRECIATED. SINCERELY LOUIS C. SHEPTIN
I have amd wet. is London doing stem cell treatment regularly ? can I go to London or California to get a treatment ? what would the cost be ?
Dear Maurice, there are several treatments already approved by the US FDA for the wet form of AMD. There’s no need to go to London for them, you can get them here in the US. Here’s a link to more information about them:
https://www.brightfocus.org/macular/wet-macular-degeneration/treatments
I hope that helps.
Yours truly,
Kevin
So I have a mother that is 91 and has macular degeneration. She is vibrant woman otherwise with excellent health.
I also have a significant other that is 68, which also has dry macular degeneration. He is an avid reader of the different studies on the subject. A person with lots of knowledge as a machinist but because of the degeneration it is difficult to continue his work and so he is retired. He lives near Chicago, a known city in the USA , so is there anything that he can do to be a part of any trials with this research?
slmh2@aol.com
Hello Sherry Lyn, sorry to hear about your mother and partner with MD. I can well imagine how challenging that must be. As a state agency we fund stem cell research but we don’t do any. To find out how you can be part of a clinical trial you have to contact the researchers/company directly. Only they can decide if you are eligible and able to take part.
Please send me he name of the research company. I have dry and wet macular degeneration.
Here are links to two clinical trials that might be appropriate for you. I do hope they help
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02286089?
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03178149?
My father would like to volunteer to have this treatment done to one of his eyes. How ever this process is done we are willing to try.
Please call me, my name is Laura, my cellphone number is 702 539 3488
Hi Laura, I’m afraid that clinical trial is not accepting patients right now, but this one might be:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04339764 If you just paste that link into your browser it will take you to a page on the http://www.clinicaltrials.gov website that has information about a trial that might be appropriate for your father.
Good luck.
I was diagnoised with maculate degeneration both eyes . pleasw help me,
I’m so sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I can only imagine how distressing that must be. I found one clinical trial for macular degeneration. Here’s a link to the page that has information about it. I do hope this helps: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04339764
My mother suffers from sight loss with MD. She is 93 could she be in the trial for stem cell patch. I am sure she would be willing.
Hi Kathy, I’m afraid your mother would be considered too old for this trial. But there may be others in the future that she could be a candidate for.
My husband is 67 and has wet AMD that is progressing on treatment with aylvia and avastin. Will there be a stem cell trial opening in the US?
hello Beth, there are no clinical trials using stem cells for wet AMD that I know of. Most of the AMD clinical trials using stem cells are for the dry kind. I believe that’s because wet AMD already has some treatments that have been approved.
hello can u update me on stem cells any clinical trials n results. Any research papers on stem cells. For retinitis pigmentosa eye diseases
regards
j . Rakesh