- It is expected that this year the FDA will approve a new gene therapy for hereditary diseases of the retina. The delivery of a new gene to specific cells in the body through viral “vectors” is expected to provide improvements in visual function in some patients suffering from forms of congenital Leber amaurosis and retinitis pigmentosa.
Currently, there are no treatments approved by the FDA for eye diseases mediated by RPE65. This innovative gene therapy offers a new “normal” functional copy of the gene that results in a functional protein. The researchers place this gene inside a modified virus and this “vector” delivers it to the cells of the retina.
- Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the year 2009, delighted blind people thanks to a microchip implant that joins the human eyeball, allowing the patient to see, even partially. The microcamera located in the implant is capable of transmitting images in the form of impulses to the nerve endings. The implant will generate electricity from human heat, and its duration will be 10 years.
These and other innovations are now possible in Pharmamedic.
