Industry News
J&J Vision Gets FDA Nod for Tecnis Eyhance & Tecnis Eyhance Toric II IOLs
Johnson & Johnson Vision announced the FDA approved the Tecnis Eyhance and Tecnis Eyhance Toric II intraocular lenses. J&J says the lenses’ “breakthrough” refractive surface is designed to slightly increase depth of focus and provide good contrast sensitivity in low light.
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WebMD Announces New Effort to Combat Vaccine Misinformation
WebMD says that misinformation is continuing to undermine public confidence in the Covid-19 vaccines, so it’s launched the WebMD Covid-19 Vaccine Misinformation Center to help combat inaccuracies with facts. According to WebMD, “The center provides reliable vaccine resources and online tools to help consumers make informed decisions, driven by science, and features articles and videos on topics including vaccine myths and how they take root, public health challenges and the role of social media in misinformation.”
Medscape, a division of WebMD Health Corp., will feature content and resources at its Covid-19 Resource Center, including vaccine overviews, late-stage vaccine development updates and news on vaccine research. WebMD and Medscape have also joined with corporate, nonprofit and media leaders in a global public service campaign, VaxFacts, to identify and counter misleading vaccine information. Led by HealthGuard, WebMD says the campaign features a browser extension that flags health hoaxes, provides credibility ratings for hundreds of websites and guides users to sources that offer trusted information. So far, HealthGuard has flagged nearly 400 websites for publishing misinformation and myths about COVID-19 vaccines. Read more.
Gemini Initiates of GEM103 Phase IIa Study
Gemini Therapeutics announced the start of a Phase IIa trial advancing GEM103 as a potential add-on therapy for patients with wet age-related macular degeneration who have, or may be at risk for, macular atrophy but require ongoing anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatment. Topline data related to safety, tolerability, effect on intraocular CFH levels and biomarkers is expected in the second half of 2021. Read more.
Adverum Announces Publication of Preclinical Safety Data on ADVM-022
Adverum Biotechnologies announced the publication of preclinical data on ADVM-022 intravitreal gene therapy in Translational Vision Science & Technology. One finding included that a single IVT injection of ADVM-022 (2 x 10^12 vg/eye in this study) appeared to be safe and well-tolerated, and resulted in sustained expression of aflibercept with no detectable adverse effects on normal retinal structure or function measured out to 30 months. ADVM-022 is in clinical trials for wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema. Read more.
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Inflammasome Publishes Dry AMD Data
Inflammasome Therapeutics reported that data published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences “confirms the company’s proprietary compounds hold promise in preventing and treating age-related macular degeneration.” The paper reveals that patients taking certain nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) to prevent HIV infection have a 40 percent lower risk of developing dry AMD compared to matched controls. Researchers at Inflammasome Therapeutics are developing these drugs as treatments for dry AMD. Read more.
Nanoscope Receives Retinal Organoid Challenge Award From NIH
Nanoscope Therapeutics researchers, in collaboration with the University of Colorado and Miami University, were awarded the top prize from the 3D-ROC challenge from the National Institute of Health, for generating a physiologically relevant three-dimensional retinal organoid. The organoids provide a unique opportunity for evaluating novel gene therapies, including multi-characteristic opsin (MCO) gene therapy for vision restoration. Nanoscope is evaluating the effectiveness of MCO optogenetic therapy, which has shown promise in restoring sight in blind subjects. Read more.
FastBack Launches FastCheck Thermal Imaging & Facial Recognition System
FastBack announced the launch of FastCheck, a thermal imaging and facial recognition system to “keep businesses healthy, secure and organized” in the era of COVID-19. Designed to instantly read body temperature within two feet, the smart technology visually and/or audibly sends alerts via a green (go) or red (stop—elevated temperature alert) signal, reminds individual to wear a mask if not detected and keeps records for contact tracing, among other features. Learn more.