Ocata Therapeutics Inc fka OCAT

[NYPharmer1]

Part2

***Existing therapies only treat the condition and do not regenerate cells of the macula that have been damaged. Plus, existing therapies only treat wet AMD, not dry AMD, leaving a significant unmet need for an effective treatment for the 90% of AMD patients who have the dry variety. The company expects to file an IND for its RPE program by end of 2009. ***


Retinal Pigmented Epithelial Cell Program
http://www.advancedcell.com/rpe-program/

Advanced Cell Technology is currently focused on using its proprietary technologies to generate stable cell lines including retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells for the treatment of diseases of the eye, including macular degeneration, which represents a $28 billion dollar market. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affects more than 30 million people worldwide and is the leading cause of blindness in people over 60 years of age in the United States. AMD is a disorder that affects the macula of the eye that causes decreased visual acuity and possible loss of central vision. The prevalence of AMD begins to increase after the age of 50. Approximately 15% of people over 75 years of age have the condition.
ACT demonstrated the ability to rescue visual function in rats through implantations of RPE cells derived from human embryonic stem cells. In collaboration with Raymond Lund at the University of Utah, the company performed RPE transplantation into sub-retinal space of rats that naturally become blind in several weeks due to RPE degeneration and photoreceptor death. In the experiments conducted by the company, the rats were injected with embryonic stem-RPE cells into the sub-retinal space of the eye at 21 days after their birth — an age at which photoreceptor degeneration has not yet occurred. As control measures, some rats received injections of cell culture medium alone or were not injected at all. Subsequently, tests for visual function were performed at 60 and 90 days after birth — times at which loss of photoreceptor cell has produced characteristic vision deficits. The results represented a major breakthrough. The injected RPE cells grew normally without forming teratomas. Soon, the rats were able to follow lights with their eyes and attained approximately 70% of the spatial acuity of a normal, healthy rat. Necropsy revealed that the eyes had grown layers of the retinal cells. The experiment demonstrated that animals receiving the human embryonic stem cell-derived RPE cells performed significantly better than medium-only treated (50% improvement), or untreated (100% improvement) controls in visual performance. In addition, the human embryonic stem cell-derived RPE cells did not appear to cause any side effects in the animals. The research was published in Cloning and Stem Cells and was also referenced in Scientific American.