ELLEX LASER ‘SAFE, EFFECTIVE’ FOR DIABETIC MACULAR OEDEMA
November 12th 2008 10:42
Monday November 10, 2008
Daily news on ASX-listed biotechnology companies
* ASX UP, BIOTECHS EVEN: NOVOGEN UP 22.5%, BIONOMICS DOWN 11%
* PROGEN INVESTORS NARROWLY MISS COUP REQUISITION
* SUNSHINE HEART LOSES COO VICTOR WINDEYER
* ELLEX LASER ‘SAFE, EFFECTIVE FOR DIABETIC MACULAR OEDEMA
* NSW GOVERNMENT $1m PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS
* STEM CELL HELPS CHDI MOUSE CELLS FOR HUNTINGDON’S RESEARCH
* NEUREN EXPECTS PIVOTAL GLYPROMATE DATA NEXT MONTH
To read all these articles in full, subscribe to Biotech Daily at the link above or at www.biotechdaily.com.au
ELLEX MEDICAL LASERS
Ellex says a six-month study has shown that the Ellex 2RT is “clinically safe and effective in the treatment of macular oedema secondary to diabetic retinopathy”.
Ellex said the clinical study results for the retina regeneration therapy (Ellex 2RT) were presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology by Prof John Marshall of London’s St Thomas’s Hospital who conducted the study.
“This is a revolutionary treatment because, for the first time, we can obtain all the therapeutic benefits seen with earlier laser treatments, but without the collateral damage,” Prof Marshall said.
“This is the mildest laser therapy to be tested in a clinical setting which has demonstrated a selective and therapeutic effect on the retinal pigment epithelium,” Prof Marshall said.
Ellex 2RT uses a custom designed, Q-switched green YAG laser that produces very precise, three nanosecond pulses of 532nm light energy.
Ellex’s managing director of advanced research Malcolm Plunkett told Biotech Daily the YAG laser, or Nd:YAG laser, was a neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet infrared laser generally used to perform capsulotomy or iridotomy.
Mr Plunkett said the Q-switched (quality-switched) green YAG laser was developed for Ellex 2RT by the advanced research team to double the fundamental frequency to produce 532nm green nanosecond pulses.
The pulses are produced by the Q-switching.
The trial at St Thomas’ Hospital in London investigated 38 eyes in 23 patients with newly diagnosed diabetic maculopathy, treated with Ellex 2RT.
Seventeen patients (28 eyes) completed the six-month follow-up examination.
Patients underwent treatment using the Ellex 2RT laser to deliver a modified macular grid pattern, guided by fluorescein angiography.
Ellex said that six months after laser treatment, 46 percent of patients had a decrease in their central macular thickness by more than 5.0 percent from baseline.
The company said central macular thickness remained stable in 39 percent of patients and increased by more than 5.0 percent in 15 percent of patients.
The amount of hard exudates also decreased in more than half of the treated eyes.
In terms of visual acuity, at six months, 43 percent of eyes had an improvement of two or more lines of Logmar visual acuity, while 28 percent showed an improvement of one to two lines of visual acuity.
Visual acuity remained stable in 15 percent of eyes and deteriorated in 14 percent of eyes.
Ellex chief executive officer Simon Luscombe said the six-month results confirmed the company’s belief that there was a way to successfully treat diabetic macular oedema safely and effectively “without a significant visual trade-off”.
“Our next step is to expand clinical studies to investigate the therapeutic role of Ellex 2RT in other diseases that impact the retinal pigment epithelium, including early age-related macular degeneration, drusen and central serous retinopathy,” Mr Luscombe said.
Ellex said it had begun Australian trials to further validate the effectiveness of Ellex 2RT.
The company said this included double blind randomized control studies for treating diabetic macula oedema and diabetic retinopathy in conjunction with the South Australian Institute of Ophthalmology and the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
An early age-related macular degeneration trial is also planned with the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital.
Results from these trials are expected to be available by June 30, 2009. Further trials are also planned for London.
Ellex was up one cent or 5.26 percent to 20 cents.
To read all these articles in full, subscribe to Biotech Daily at the link above or at www.biotechdaily.com.au
| 24 |
| Vote |
Shared on
Add To: 
Subscribe to this blog
