LifeSciences News

			Many Medicare patients undergo unnecessary routine preoperative tests before cataract surgery More than half of all Medicare patients who have cataract surgery undergo unnecessary routine preoperative testing, despite strong evidence that these tests are usually not beneficial and increase national health care costs, reports a study published on April 16 in The New England Journal of Medicine.
			Researchers use virtual reality to develop new method for measuring balance control in glaucoma patients Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death and morbidity in older adults, especially those with a chronic eye disease such as glaucoma. To investigate this problem, a multidisciplinary group of researchers has become the first to use virtual reality technology to develop a new method for measuring balance control in those with glaucoma.
			New OCT angiography can improve clinical management of leading causes of blindness Research published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences demonstrates that technology invented by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University's Casey Eye Institute can improve the clinical management of the leading causes of blindness.

	Current challenges in tackling macular degeneration: an interview with Mark Ackermann, AMD Alliance International There are two forms of macular degeneration: the wet form and the dry form. The dry form is less challenging as it affects a smaller number of people and the disease progression is far slower...
	New priority program set to develop next generation of optogenetic tools Optogenetics is a new field of research that introduces light-sensitive proteins into cells in a genetically targeted manner, for example, to obtain information on signalling pathways and the function of neurons in a living organism.
	RegeneRx joint venture retains Ora to carry out RGN-259/GBT201 clinical trials in U.S. RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced its U.S. joint venture with G-treeBNT (ReGenTree LLC) has retained Ora, Inc. to conduct a phase 3 clinical trial for the orphan disorder, neurotrophic keratopathy (NK), and a 2b/3 dose-response, confirmatory trial for dry eye syndrome (DES) in the U.S. Both trials will be testing ReGenTree's preservative-free eye drops, RGN-259/GBT201, this year.
	BioLight Life Sciences announces first IOPtiMate™ system sale in Hungary BioLight Life Sciences Investments Ltd., a firm that invests in, manages and commercializes biomedical innovations in ophthalmology and cancer diagnostics, today announced the first sale of the IOPtiMate™ system to a medical center located in Hungary.
	Haag-Streit Surgical receives FDA 510(k) clearance for intraoperative-OCT camera HAAG-STREIT SURGICAL announced its intraoperative-OCT camera has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for marketing on the largest medical device market in the world.
	Study shows epilepsy drug can protect vision of MS patients A drug commonly taken to prevent seizures in epilepsy may surprisingly protect the eyesight of people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 67th Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, April 18 to 25, 2015.
	RetroSense Therapeutics receives Luis Villalobos Award RetroSense Therapeutics, LLC, a Wayne State University start-up biotechnology company, has received the Luis Villalobos Award from the Angel Capital Association, the world's leading professional association for angel investors.
	Immunocore reports clinical trial data from IMCgp100 Phase I/IIa study at AACR 2015 Immunocore Limited, a world-leading biotechnology company developing novel biological drugs to treat cancer, viral infections and autoimmune diseases, today announced clinical trial data from the Phase I/IIa study of its lead programme IMCgp100, at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2015, in Philadelphia, USA.
	TGen scientists discover the likely cause of rare type of muscle weakness in six children Scientists at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), using state-of-the-art genetic technology, have discovered the likely cause of a child's rare type of severe muscle weakness.