UCL Pfizer to develop pioneering stem cell sight therapies

UCL has entered into a collaboration with the biopharmaceutical group Pfizer, negotiated by UCL Business, to advance development of stem cell-based therapies for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD affects around a quarter of people over the age of 60 in the UK. The condition arises when cells supporting the light-sensitive cells in the retina fail, causing progressive loss of sight. There are two forms of AMD, 'wet' or 'dry'. While recent advances have produced a therapy for the wet form, unfortunately there is no current or emerging therapy for the dry form. The London Project to Cure Blindness, led by Professor Pete Coffey (UCL Institute of Ophthalmology), is involved in producing a cell replacement therapy from human embryonic cells; a therapy which it aims to introduce into clinics by 2011. The goal is to replace cells essential for 'seeing' lost through disease at the back of the eye.