The ‘2RT for Early AMD’ pilot study (ACTRN12609001056280) was conducted in 2009-2011 at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA).
A total of 50 patients with bilateral at risk intermediate AMD were enrolled in the study with a 12-month follow-up period.
Drusen are the accumulation of waste deposits in the macula and are a key risk factor to progression to end-stage, blinding AMD.
These drusen were reduced in 44% of treated eyes. Of the 11 patients at greatest risk of disease progression (flicker defect >15dB), seven improved sufficiently to be taken out of this high-risk category.
Until now, treatment options have been restricted to targeting late-stage complications associated with the wet form of AMD, which only accounts for 10-15% of all people who suffer from AMD.
The publication is an important part of the clinical evidence required for Conformite Europeenne (CE) registration which, when achieved, will allow the company to move forward with a definitive commercialization program for 2RT in the treatment of early AMD in Europe and Australia.
Ellex Medical Lasers CEO Tom Spurling noted this is a really important result because currently, when a patient is diagnosed with early AMD they are told that nothing can be done until the disease reaches its late stages, by which time some patients have suffered irreversible vision loss.
"With 2RT, we aim to treat the cause of AMD before vision is lost," Spurling added.
