R Is for Retina

Image courtesy of Erica Fletcher, MD, PhD

AMD affects 11 million people in the United States alone. As patient populations age, the number will surely grow – and so too will the need for effective treatment. Current therapies are almost entirely focused on tackling late-stage AMD; attempting to manage patient symptoms only after vision loss and/or serious damage have occurred. But what if there was a way to intervene earlier? That was the question Ellex asked itself  and then answered with 2RT® Retinal Rejuvenation Therapy – a new laser treatment that offers ophthalmologists the chance to delay the degeneration process in a significant proportion of patients with intermediate AMD – as highlighted in the LEAD trial (1).

So how does it work? 2RT uses Nanopix Technology™ – a nanosecond laser pulse in a unique pixelated beam profile – to exclusively target selected individual cells within compromised retinal pigment epithelium. This patented process stimulates a natural biological healing process in the retina – the rejuvenation – and improves the hydraulic conductivity of Bruch’s Membrane. And because the process is gentle, it does so without collateral damage to the overlying photoreceptor rods and cones of the retina.

In the extensive, multi-center LEAD clinical trial over 36 months, it was shown that 2RT achieves a significant reduction in the rate of progression to late-stage AMD in just over three quarters of intermediate AMD patients. Specifically, post-hoc analysis of the randomized, sham-controlled study of 292 patients showed that 2RT resulted in a clinically meaningful 77 percent reduction in the rate of disease progression in patients without co-existent reticular pseudodrusen (76 percent of patients enrolled). 

2RT Retinal Rejuvenation Therapy has already been approved for indications of clinically significant macular edema (CSME) in Europe and the United States – and for early AMD in Europe. And with its revolutionary approach to cell renewal, Ellex’s unique treatment program looks set to change the way ophthalmologists treat AMD the world over.

2RT^® is not approved for sale in the USA for the indication of early AMD.