Next Gen News

patients with eye disease that causes blindness to participate in the first trial with human embryonic stem cells to be approved in Europe

British surgeons are participating in the first clinical study of treatment of human embryonic stem cells for regulatory approval in Europe.

surgeons at Moorfield Eye Hospital in London injecting cells into the eyes of 12 patients with incurable eye disease called Stargardt macular dystrophy, a major cause of blindness in young people.

The trial, designed to study the safety and tolerability of therapy products, is scheduled to begin in December have been approved by the British Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency on Thursday.

medical teams is expected to slow, halt or even reverse the effects of the disease by injecting healthy cells in the retina of the eye. The trial is controversial because the replacement of retinal cells - known as the EPR, or cells of the retinal pigment epithelium -. They are derived from human embryonic stem cells

The Massachusetts-based company Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) announced Thursday the trial. This will run alongside a similar study that began in July at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Only one patient has been treated to date in the U.S. trial Stargardt's disease. The results of both studies are expected next year.

patients taking part in the trial in the UK have between 50,000 and 200,000 cells behind the retina through a small needle in an outpatient waiting over an hour. Only patients with advanced disease will be admitted to the test.

If the treatment plant, the RPE cells replacement will grow and eventually restore the retina to a state that can bear the light sensing cells required for vision.