Clinical Trials
The NEI conducts and supports research that helps prevent and treat eye diseases and other disorders of vision. Approximately 1600 research grants and training awards were made to scientists at more than 250 medical centers, hospitals, universities, and other institutions across the country and around the world. The NEI also conducts laboratory and patient-oriented research at its own facilities.
For more information or to search for clinical trials please visit: http://www.nei.nih.gov/neitrials/index.aspx.
ClinicalTrials.gov – a service of the U.S. National Institute of Health
ClinicalTrials.gov is a registry of federally and privately supported clinical trials conducted in the United States and around the world. ClinicalTrials.gov gives you information about a trial's purpose, who may participate, locations, and phone numbers for more details. This information should be used in conjunction with advice from health care professionals.
The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), through its National Library of Medicine (NLM), has developed this site in collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as a result of the FDA Modernization Act, which was passed into law in November 1997. See the FDA document - Guidance for Industry: Information Program on Clinical Trials for Serious or Life-Threatening Diseases and Conditions (March 2002).
For more information or to search for clinical trials please visit: www.clinicaltrials.gov.
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
In a clinical trial at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, researchers from The University of Pennsylvania have used gene therapy to safely restore vision in three young adults with Leber congenital amaurosis, a rare type of genetic blindness. Although the patients have not achieved normal eyesight, the preliminary results set the stage for further studies of an innovative treatment for this and possibly other retinal diseases.
For more information on Dr. Bennett’s work please click visit: http://www.chop.edu/consumer/news/story.jsp?id=88339
UCL Institute of Ophthalmology
UK researchers from the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital NIHR Biomedical Research Centre have announced results from the world’s first clinical trial to test a revolutionary gene therapy treatment for Leber congenital amaurosis, a rare type of genetic blindness. The findings are a landmark for gene therapy technology and could have a significant impact on future treatments for eye disease.
For more information on Dr. Ali’s work, please visit: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioo/research/patients/clinical_trials.html
Encapsulated Cell Technology (ECT) Implant
Experiments in animal models of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) have shown that degeneration can be slowed by injecting proteins called “survival factors”, one of which is CNTF (ciliary neuronotropic factor) directly into the eye through a single intraocular injection of living cells. These cells make CNTF or other survival factors and secrete them into the retina continuously for a long time. This approach has been refined by Neurotech Encapsulated Cell Technology (ECT).
For more information on phase 2 trials of neurotrophic factors in RP at NEI please visit: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00447993?term=retinitis+pigmentosa&rank=2