The first sign of injury in glaucoma actually occurs in the brain, according to researchers Vanderbilt Eye Institute. “This is a paradigm shift on how we think about this disease,” says researcher David Calkins, Ph.D. “This information opens up an entirely new domain of nerve-derived therapeutics.” Using animal models with high pressure glaucoma, the researchers were able to see that very early vision loss involves the loss of communication between the optic nerve and the mid-brain. So, the degeneration works in reverse order, Dr. Calkins says. “It starts in the brain and works its way back to the retina so that in the very latest stages of the disease, the earliest structures—the ones nearest the eye—are the last to go.” Results are published in the March 1 online Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Ranibizumab and bevacizumab are equally effective in halting vision loss, finds a study in February’s Ophthalmology. From 2005 to 2008, researchers followed 324 AMD patients treated with bevacizumab and 128 managed with ranibizumab. Acuity improved and stabilized in both groups. The proportion of patients who had 20/40 vision or better increased from 13.6% to 22.9% in the bevacizumab group and 11.7% to 25.0% in the ranibizumab group.

Neil D. Donnenfeld, M.B.A., has been named chief executive officer and director of Advanced Vision Research. The company continues to work through the sudden loss of founder, CEO and chief scientific officer Jeffrey P. Gilbard, M.D.