Neurotech's NT-501 Implant Demonstrates Statistically Significant Photoreceptor Preservation in Patients with Retinal Degenerative Disease
14 April 2011
Neurotech Pharmaceuticals today announced that, as reported in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (April, 2011, Vol. 52), the company's product NT-501 demonstrated statistically significant cone photoreceptor preservation in patients with retinitis pigmentosa
NT-501 is an intraocular implant that consists of human cells genetically modified to secrete ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) - a growth factor capable of rescuing and protecting dying photoreceptors. The study utilized Adaptive Optics Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO), a breakthrough diagnostic technology, to image and measure the rate of the progressive degeneration of cone photoreceptors.
In the prospective study, two patients with RP and one patient with Usher syndrome type 2 were evaluated by AOSLO at 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months following implantation. For each patient, one eye received an NT-501 implant while the fellow eye received sham-treatment. The research team assessed photoreceptor loss by measuring cone density and comparing results for the active and sham treated eyes. No decrease in cone density was observed in any of the eyes treated with NT-501. A decrease in cone density are both indicative of photoreceptor loss.
In addition, the results demonstrated a statistically significant preservation of cone photoreceptors in the eyes of all three subjects treated with the NT-501 implant versus sham-treated eyes.
The study was led by Jacque Duncan, MD, Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology at the University of California. He said "We are extremely encouraged by the photoreceptor preserving effect of NT-501 seen in this study as well as the usefulness of AOSLO as a diagnostic tool for retinitis pigmentosa progression. Larger studies using AOSLO are urgently needed to confirm the photoreceptor protective effect f NT-501 treatment in patients with retinal degeneration."
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