Pfizer ditch collab with UCL on embryonic SC for AMD

Pfizer's latest pipeline update reveals that four early-stage clinical projects have been shelved, including a stem cell therapy for a leading cause of blindness.

PF-05206388—originally developed by scientists led by Professor Pete Coffey at University College London (UCL) in the U.K.—consisted of an polymer scaffold carrying stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells that was designed to be implanted into the eye.

The cells were intended to be used to replace those at the back of the eye that are damaged in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), with Pfizer and its collaborators focusing initially on the wet (exudative) form of the disease.

The implant grew out of a research consortium set up by UCL's Institute of Ophthalmology, Moorfields Eye Hospital and the U.K. National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in 2005, with Pfizer joining in 2009 to try to help develop the concept into a commercial product.

The first patient was treated at Moorfields in 2015, and the intention was to enroll 10 patients into the phase 1 study with a data read-out due in March 2017. A notice on clinicaltrials.gov indicates patient enrolment was suspended in January....