2 Treatments for Retinas Make Gains

Elderly people losing their vision from age-relatedmacular degeneration might one day have a treatment option that requires fewer injections into the eye than the standard drug now used.

In testing, an experimental drug being developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, when injected every eight weeks, proved as effective as the standard treatment, Lucentis from Genentech, which was injected every four weeks. The findings are from two clinical trials that Regeneron is expected to announce on Monday.

In a separate development, Advanced Cell Technology is expected to announce Monday that it has won regulatory approval to test a therapy derived from human embryonic stem cells in people with Stargardt’s macular dystrophy, another retina disease.

It is only the second trial of a therapy derived from human embryonic stem cells to be cleared by the Food and Drug Administration. The first involves a treatment for spinal cord injury developed by Geron.

Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. Lucentis can restore a person’s ability to drive and read, in some cases.

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