Another company to put on your radar – EyeCyte

Big drug companies have largely stayed away from testing exotic stem-cell treatments. But now Pfizer is betting that a radical new adult stem-cell treatment may be able to stave off diabetes-induced retina damage, a leading cause of blindness.

In an unusual deal, the big drug maker is funding the creation of a biotech company in San Diego called EyeCyte, which will develop stem-cell treatments for eye diseases. The company is based on work by Scripps Research Institute ophthalmologist Martin Friedlander, who has pinpointed bone- and blood-marrow stems cells that, in animal experiments, have a remarkable ability to target and repair damaged blood vessels in the eye. Abnormal blood vessels are a key problem in both diabetic eye disease and macular degeneration. “

Pretty soon we will have a trend -you think?

Author Profile

Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
Jennifer Lahl, MA, BSN, RN, is founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network. Lahl couples her 25 years of experience as a pediatric critical care nurse, a hospital administrator, and a senior-level nursing manager with a deep passion to speak for those who have no voice. Lahl’s writings have appeared in various publications including Cambridge University Press, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, and the American Journal of Bioethics. As a field expert, she is routinely interviewed on radio and television including ABC, CBS, PBS, and NPR. She is also called upon to speak alongside lawmakers and members of the scientific community, even being invited to speak to members of the European Parliament in Brussels to address issues of egg trafficking; she has three times addressed the United Nations during the Commission on the Status of Women on egg and womb trafficking.