Potential blindness cure rescued by emergency charity funding

Last month a ground-breaking trial of a new treatment, derived from stem cells, for people with ‘wet’ age-related macular degeneration commenced at Moorfields Eye Hospital following a successful operation on a patient.

This first operation was a major milestone in the London Project to Cure Blindness, which was established 10 years ago with the aim of curing vision loss in patients with wet AMD.

However, it has since been revealed that the scheme was under threat in 2007 due to lack of funding and Professor Pete Coffey, who is co-leading the project, approached the Macular Society for an urgent cash injection.

The society has since contributed £100,000 to the research, and although the project has continued for longer than the five years that was originally forecast the charity’s CEO, Cathy Yelf, said she was “delighted that the first patient has been treated.”

“This is a major step in the progress towards a cure for a distressing condition. We are extremely proud to have supported this exciting project; however, it is not yet known if this will meet the needs of the thousands of people affected by wet age-related macular degeneration,” Ms Yelf added.

The trial is investigating the safety and efficacy of transplanting eye cells (retinal pigment epithelium) derived from stem cells to treat people with sudden severe visual loss from wet AMD.

These cells are used to replace those at the back of the eye that are diseased in AMD, which is done using a specially engineered patch inserted behind the retina in an operation lasting one to two hours.

The patient who underwent the first surgery of this kind last month is now recovering and there have been no complications to date.

The trial will recruit 10 patients in total over a period of 18 months. Each patient will be followed for a year to assess the safety and stability of the cells and whether there is an effect in restoring vision.

Professor Coffey of the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology said: “We are tremendously pleased to have reached this stage in the research for a new therapeutic approach.  Although we recognise this clinical trial focuses on a small group of AMD patients who have experienced sudden severe visual loss, we hope that many patients may benefit in the future.”

The Macular Society is still urgently campaigning for more funding for macular research and hopes that further breakthroughs will prevent many more people from developing the condition.