Voice of the Diabetic

Voice of the Diabetic

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NEW THERAPY MAY INHABIT RETINOPATHY

The days of "laser surgery"

may be numbered. GenVec, Inc., a Maryland-based pharmaceutical research firm,

has obtained exclusive license to PEDF, pigment epithelium- derived factor,

a substance developed by researchers at Northwestern University. PEDF appears

to inhibit the abnormal capillary growth we know as diabetic retinopathy, which

is a leading cause of blindness. PEDF also may be effective against macular

degeneration.

Research authored by Dr.

Noel Bouck, published January 2001 in Proceedings of the National Academy of

Science, suggest that administration of PEDF, now tested at the "preclinical"

level, may prevent new retinopathic blood vessel development in the eye.

Although such a development

is exciting, note well the word "preclinical." New medications have to pass

a battery of clinical tests, demonstrating both efficacy and safety, before

they can be approved for distribution. PEDF may be eventually successful, and

may well become the treatment of choice for proliferative diabetic retinopathy,

but it won't be tomorrow.

For information, contact:

GenVec, Inc., 65 West Watkins Mill Road, Gaithersburg, MD 20878; telephone:

(240) 632-0740; website: www.genvec.com

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