MARLBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (“ACT”; OTCBB: ACTC), a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, today announced treatment of the first patient in patient cohort 2a, consisting of patients with better vision, in its U.S. clinical trial for Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy (SMD), a form of juvenile macular degeneration. The surgery was performed on Thursday, April 11 at Wills Eye Institute in Philadelphia, by Joseph Maguire, M.D., a co-investigator on the trial. The protocol is overseen by Principle Investigator, Carl D. Regillo, M.D., Chief of the Wills Eye Institute Retina Service, and professor of ophthalmology at Thomas Jefferson University. The patient was injected with 100,000 human embryonic stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. As the company announced on Jan. 22, patients with a visual acuity of 20/100 are eligible for enrollment in cohort 2a in the two U.S. clinical trials, for SMD and dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD). By treating patients earlier in the course of the disease, the Company believes that the amended patient protocol may have a more significant impact on photoreceptor rescue and visual function. In previous protocols, only SMD patients with a visual acuity no better than hand movement in the treated eyes and dry AMD patients with a visual acuity of 20/400 were eligible. The outpatient transplantation surgery was performed successfully and the patient is recovering uneventfully.
