Stemedica Cell Technologies, Inc. has announced a significant breakthrough in the use of human stem cells and stem cell factors for the potential treatment of retinal degenerations and the retinal pigment epithelium. The research was conducted by an international consortium of renowned researchers and clinicians who explored the application of Stemedica’s proprietary lines of stem cells and stem cell factors for treatment in a pre-clinical environment.

The 18 month pre-clinical study was implemented at the Fyodorov Eye Institute. Three different types of human stem cells (hSC) were used in the study – retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), neural (NSC) and cilliary body (CB) – all obtained from human donor tissue. The research team compared the efficacy of each of the three cell types.

The study showed a statistically significant gain (77%) in the eye treated with RPE cells over the control eye of the same animal. However, both the treated eye and the control eye were approximately 10 times more active (response to ERG) compared to the non-treated control animal. The researchers also found that the RPE and NSC cells were effective in preserving the thickness of the outer nuclear layer of the retina. A contra lateral effect was observed between the test and control eyes as well. As a result, both eyes exhibited significant improvement.

It is thought that the positive outcome in the control eye was achieved through the systemic release of substances and molecules from stem cells transplanted into the treated eye. This phenomenon is referred to by Stemedica as “The Factor Release Effect” and branded by the company as StemedicaFRE™.

Read ^[1] the release.