Retinal section of RP patient with microglia (green) expressing C3 (red)

The phase 2b trial of jCyte’s jCell has shown that the minimally invasive intravitreal injection therapy for retinitis pigmentosa (RP) significantly improved patients’ best corrected visual acuity and peripheral visual field area. 

Presenting the trial’s results at ARVO 2021, Dr David Liao from Retina Vitreous Associates and Dr Sunil Srivastava from the Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute, USA, said patients (excluding those with highly advanced disease who could not be reliably measured) treated with a single six-million cell dose also had meaningful improvements in contrast sensitivity and the ability to ambulate better in substantially lower light settings.  

Researchers said that jCell therapy requires no immunosuppression and helps restore vision by initiating the sustained release of established neurotrophic factors that reduce photoreceptor cell death and promote the function of surviving photoreceptors. “These results are very encouraging as we know that jCell releases an array of well-established neurotrophic factors that have been shown to support photoreceptor function and survival in key preclinical models of RP and other retinal degenerative disorders when administered early in the disease process,” said Dr Srivastava.