Optometric Management's OD Notebook to take brief winters nap
Optometric Management’s “OD Notebook,” weekly news section will be taking a brief winter’s nap, returning in January 2024. From all the staff at Optometric Management, happy holidays, and all the best in 2024!
Practice Tip: Enter the Optometric Management photo contest
Let your inner Ansel Adams out!! Optometric Management (OM) is inviting you to enter its 2024 Clinical Image Contest. Specifically, the publication is seeking interesting photographs/images in these areas: AMD; diabetic eye disease or retina (fundus photos, OCT images); glaucoma (optic nerve head, OCT); dry eye (anterior segment photos and/or images); and contact lens (anterior segment photos and/or images). Winning photos will be featured in an upcoming issue of OM. Please email photos, with picture title and description, to jennifer.kirby@broadcastmed.com, with the subject line “Photo Contest.”
Contact Lens Institute announces Culture award winners
The Contact Lens Institute (CLI) named 12 U.S. eye care professionals and practices as CLI Culture Award winners. (See the full list of winners at https://www.contactlensinstitute.org/resources/awards/. The award recognizes their impact on fostering contact lens cultures that enhance patient experiences and business success. Additionally, the award winners exhibit behaviors and actions reflected in CLI’s recent report, The Culture Calculation: Data-Backed Behaviors for Contact Lens Success.
Clearside Biomedical makes progress on wet age-related macular degeneration treatment trial
Clearside Biomedical, Inc., announced it has completed randomization in its ODYSSEY phase 2b clinical trial of CLS-AX (axitinib injectable suspension) for wet age-related macular degeneration. Topline results are expected in the third quarter of 2024, according to a press release.
Eyewear Artwalk names Trudi Charest keynote speaker
Eyewear Artwalk announced Trudi Charest as its keynote speaker. The inaugural show will take place in seven cities in the United States. The keynote session is titled Building a Personal & Business Online Brand. Additionally, Ms. Charest will curate an immersive workshop for vendors and the sales boot camp training, The Art of Optical Sales series for eye care practitioners. For more information visit www.EyewearArtwalk.com.
Myopia Profile celebrates reach of resource website
Myopia Profile is celebrating the impact of its My Kids Vision (www.mykidsvision.org) website, a free resource for parents, in 2023. The platform, which provides easy-to-digest, evidence-based information on myopia and its management, has reached eye care practitioners in 194 countries, with major growth in the year for the United States (170% increase), United Kingdom (155% increase), and Canada (165% increase).
Nicox SA trial on IOP-lowering drug progresses to patient screening
The Nicox SA trial, Whistler Phase 3b, has screened its first patient. The trial seeks to investigate the dual mechanism of action (nitric oxide and prostaglandin analog) of the company’s NCX 470 in IOP lowering. The nitric oxide-donating bimatoprost eye drop is in phase 3 clinical development for the treatment of patients who have open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.
Ocugen age-related macular degeneration gene therapy trial doses first patient
Ocugen, Inc., announced the first patient has been dosed in the ArMaDa phase ½ clinical trial of OCU410 (AAV-RORA), a modifier gene therapy product candidate developed for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The phase ½ trial will assess the safety and efficacy of OCU410 for geographic atrophy secondary to dry AMD. The first phase is a multicenter, open-label, dose-ranging study, and the second is a randomized expansion phase in which subjects will be randomized 1:1:1 to either one of two OCU410 dose groups or an untreated group.
Oculis continues to stage 2 of phase 3 trial on diabetic macular edema drug
Oculis Holding announced the first patient, first visit of stage 2 of its phase 3 DIAMOND-1 trial evaluating OCS-01 drops for the treatment of diabetic macular edema. DIAbetic Macular edema patients ON a Drop, or DIAMOND-1, is a double-masked, randomized, multi-center trial to assess the efficacy and safety of OCS-01in DME patients. The primary objective of stage 2 is to select the optimal dosing regimen, evaluated at week 52, according to the press release.
Podcast explores accessibility of the arts
On the latest episode of “On Tech and Vision,” with Dr. Cal Roberts, president and CEO of Lighthouse Guild, the host explores how artists and developers are reimagining what it means to experience and express art. The episode includes conversations with El-Deane Naude, from Sony Electronics, on Retissa NeoViewer, which allows photographers who are visually impaired to see their work more clearly; Bonnie Collura, professor at Penn State University, on her haptic glove, which allows artists who are blind or visually impaired to sculpt; and more. Visit www.Lighthouseguild.org to listen.
Prevent Blindness CEO named chair of the National Health Council
At the National Health Council’s board of directors meeting, the body elected its officers for 2024, including Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness, who was named chair. Other members of the Executive Committee: Chair- Elect Schroeder Stribling, president and CEO, Mental Health America; Vice Chair Michael Osso, president and CEO, Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation; Secretary Sue Peschin, president and CEO, Alliance for Aging Research; and Treasurer Harold Wimmer, national president and CEO, American Lung Association.
Reichert to distribute dry eye-related devices in the United States
Reichert Technologies announced an exclusive partnership with SBM Sistemi of Italy to distribute SBM’s imaging and dry eye disease (DED) assessment and treatment devices in the United States. The Reichert-SBM devices include:
• IDRA, which evaluates all the tear film layers and the meibomian glands to identify the specific type of DED and provide personalized treatment recommendations.
• OS1000, an integrated diagnostic platform that combines a corneal topographer with DED assessment.
• DEM100-DSLC200, an anterior imaging camera system compatible with a wide range of slit lamps and is available with comprehensive DED assessment.
• ACTIVA, a non-invasive device that relieves symptoms caused by the meibomian gland disfunction (MGD) and associated evaporative dry eye with controlled heating and micro-vibrations that stimulate the meibomian glands.
For more information, visit reichert.com/dryeye.
Tarsus reports topline results from trial evaluating Demodex drug in meibomian gland disease patients
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals announced topline results from its Ersa phase 2a clinical trial evaluating TP-03 (lotilaner ophthalmic solution 0.25%) administered bid or tid for 12 weeks for the treatment of meibomian gland disease in patients who have Demodex mites. In this study, TP-03 demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements compared to baseline in two objective measures of the disease: (1) the presence and quality of liquid secretion as measured by the Meibomian Gland Secretion Score (MGSS, scoring range of 0-45), and (2) the number of glands secreting normal (clear) liquid as measured in the central 15 glands of the lower eyelid.
Universities receive grant to study mRNA visual impairment therapy
University of Albany scientists at the College of Arts and Sciences’ RNA Institute received a four-year, $1.8 million grant from the National Eye Institute to explore a new molecular tool for treating retinal degenerative disease. In collaboration with a research team from the University of Buffalo, the project’s center is a hammerhead ribozyme, an RNA molecule engineered to catalyze a targeted chemical reaction that cuts mRNA strand at a specific location. By cutting the portion of the genetic code in the eye that contributes to vision impairment, the research could potentially slow or halt the progression of various disease that affect sight.
OD Notebook is published weekly on Wednesdays. Unless otherwise noted, the information presented is based on press releases and/or announcements by the respective organizations. Find earlier editions here. To submit a press release to be considered for publication, click here.