NeoVista Presents One Year Data on Novel Wet AMD Therapy at Macu...(ipants (mean age 72 years) who enrolledf...),Health

"As more data are collected and analyzed surrounding this one-time surgical procedure, we're continuing to see the potential of the concomitant approach to treat wet AMD," said Dr. Heier. "Unlike previous attempts with radiation therapy, NeoVista has developed a means of delivering targeted beta radiation to choroidal neovascular membranes with minimal penetration, resulting in little effect on the surrounding healthy tissue."

In contrast to other forms of radiation therapy for wet AMD, NeoVista's approach delivers the peak dose of energy directly to the lesion without irreparably damaging the normal retinal vasculature. Utilizing strontium 90, the focused energy is delivered to a target area up to 3 mm in depth and up to 5.4 mm in diameter. Importantly for patients, the systemic exposure to radiation is minimal, as the effective dose to the entire body from NeoVista's epiretinal device is less than that from a typical chest x-ray.

"We've seen a significant amount of promise so far with epiretinal brachytherapy and we're excited to see the ultimate potential of the therapy when evaluated in our definitive Phase III trial," said John N. Hendrick, President and CEO of NeoVista. "Patients will finally be able to have access to a treatment for wet AMD that not only has the possibility of restoring their vision, but also saving them money and alleviating the difficulties of current treatment regimens for all involved -- patients, caretakers and physicians."

The CABERNET (CNV Secondary to AMD Treated with BEta RadiatioN Epiretinal Therapy) trial is a multicenter, randomized, controlled study that will enroll 450 subjects at clinical centers worldwide. The study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of NeoVista's epiretinal beta radiation therapy delivered concomitantly with the FDA-approved antiangiogenic therapy Lucentis(R) (ranibi
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