Safety and Efficacy Study of OpRegen for Treatment of Advanced Dry-Form Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Phase I/IIa Dose Escalation Safety and Efficacy Study of Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells Transplanted Subretinally in Patients With Advanced Dry-Form Age-Related Macular Degeneration (Geographic Atrophy)

The main objective of the study is evaluation of the safety and tolerability of OpRegen - Human embryonic stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. The study will also include initial exploration of the ability of transplanted OpRegen cells to engraft, survive, and moderate disease progression.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Age-Related Macular Degeneration
• Intervention / Treatment: Biological: OpRegen

Detailed Description

OpRegen® is a cell-based product composed of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells, derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and administered as a cell suspension either in ophthalmic Balanced Salt Solution Plus (BSS Plus) or in CryoStor® 5 (Thaw-and-Inject, TAI). This is a Phase I/IIa, dose-escalation, evaluating safety and tolerability of OpRegen transplantation to patients with progressive dry-AMD. The study includes also initial exploration of efficacy.

A total of approximately 24 subjects will be enrolled. The subjects should be 50 years of age and older, with non-neovascular (dry) AMD, who have funduscopic findings of GA in the macula, with absence of additional concomitant ocular disorders. The subjects will be divided into four cohorts, according to their best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and administered OpRegen dose.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 24
• Phase: Phase 2; Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Israel
  • Jerusalem, Israel, 9112001
    • Hadassah Medical Center
  • Petah Tikva, Israel, 4941492
    • Rabin Medical Center
  • Rehovot, Israel, 76100
    • Kaplan Medical Center
  • Tel Aviv, Israel, 6423906
    • Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
• United States
  • California
    • San Francisco, California, United States, 94109
      • West Coast Retina Medical Group
  • Ohio
    • Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, 45242
      • Cincinnati Eye Institute
  • Pennsylvania
    • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19107
      • Mid Atlantic Retina

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 50 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 50 and older;
• Diagnosis of dry (non-neovascular) age related macular degeneration in both eyes;
• Funduscopic findings of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with progressive geographic atrophy in the macula;
• Best corrected central visual acuity equal or less than 20/200 in cohorts 1-3 and 20/64-20/250 in cohort 4 in the study eye by ETDRS vision testing;
• Vision in the non-operated eye must be better than or equal to that in the operated eye;
• Subjects with sufficiently good health to allow participation in all study-related procedures and complete the study follow up period (based on medical records);
• Ability to undergo a vitreoretinal surgical procedure under monitored anesthesia care;
• Blood counts, blood chemistry, coagulation and urinalysis without abnormal significance;
• Negative for tuberculosis (TB) (cohort 4), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B (HBC), and hepatitis C virus (HCV), negative for cytomegalovirus (CMV) Immunoglobulin (IgM) and Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) IgM or asymptomatic in the opinion of the investigator (cohort 4);
• No history of malignancy (other than a non-melanoma skin cancer). For cancers in remission for more then 5 years enrollment is allowed with concurred documented approval of principal investigator and oncologist prior to enrollment;
• Willing to defer all future blood and tissue donation;
• Able to understand study procedures and willing to sign informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Evidence of neovascular AMD by history, as well as by clinical exam, fluorescein angiography (FA), or ocular coherence tomography (OCT) at baseline in either eye;
• History or presence of diabetic retinopathy, vascular occlusions, uveitis, Coat's disease, uncontrolled glaucoma, cataract or media opacity preventing posterior pole visualization or any significant ocular disease other than AMD that has compromised or could compromise vision in the study eye and confound analysis of the primary outcome;
• History of retinal detachment repair in the study eye;
• Axial myopia greater than -6 diopters;
• At least 2 months following cataract removal in the study eye and Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (YAG) laser capsulotomy in the study eye in the past 4 weeks and any other ocular surgery in the study eye in the past 3 months prior to implantation;
• History of cognitive impairments or dementia;
• Contraindication for systemic immunosuppression;
• History of any condition other than AMD associated with choroidal neovascularization in the study eye (e.g. pathologic myopia or presumed ocular histoplasmosis);
• Any type of systemic disease or its treatment, in the opinion of the Investigator, including any medical condition (controlled or uncontrolled) that could be expected to progress, recur, or change to such an extent that it may bias the assessment of the clinical status of the participant to a significant degree or put the patient at special risk.
• Pregnancy or breastfeeding;
• Current participation in another clinical study. Past participation (within 6 months) in any clinical study of a drug administered systemically or to the eye.
• Currently receiving aspirin, aspirin containing products and/or any other coagulation modifying drugs which cannot be discontinued 7 days prior to surgery;
• History of cancer (other than a non-melanoma skin cancer). For cancers in remission more than five years ago, enrollment is allowed with concurred documented approval of principal investigator and oncologist prior to enrollment.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: OpRegen; Up to 12 legally blind subjects with best corrected visual acuity of 20/200 or less in first three cohorts and 12 subjects with best corrected visual acuity of 20/64 and 20/250 in fourth cohort	Biological: OpRegen; Targeted dose of 50,000 - 200,000 cells will be delivered into the subretinal space.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Percentage of Participants With Treatment Emergent Adverse Events	An adverse event is any untoward medical occurrence in a subject administered a pharmaceutical product and which does not necessarily have to have a causal relationship with the treatment. An adverse event can therefore be any unfavorable and unintended sign (including an abnormal laboratory finding, for example), symptom, or disease temporally associated with the use of a pharmaceutical product, whether or not considered related to the pharmaceutical product. Preexisting conditions which worsen during a study are also considered as adverse events. The AE's were graded using National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v 3.0.	From study start till 12 months following last subject dosed, plus up to 90 days (up to approximately 6.5 years)
Change From Baseline in Intraocular Pressure (IOP)		Baseline, Month 12

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change From Baseline in Geographic Atrophy (GA) Lesion Area	The GA lesion area was based on available Fundus Autofluorescence (FAF) imaging data by a central reading center.	Baseline, Month 12
Change From Baseline in Visual Acuity	Change from baseline in visual acuity was measured by retro illuminated ETDRS chart from 4 meters distance. Visual acuity was reported as the number of letters read correctly.	Baseline, Month 12
Change From Baseline in National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25) Quality of Life	The NEI VFQ-25 is a 25 item patient-reported questionnaire. The composite score ranges from 0-100 with the higher score indicating better visual function.	Baseline, Month 12

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Hoffmann-La Roche
• Investigators: Study Director: Clinical Trials, Hoffmann-La Roche

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Aweidah H, Matsevich C, Khaner H, Idelson M, Ejzenberg A, Reubinoff B, Banin E, Obolensky A. Survival of Neural Progenitors Derived from Human Embryonic Stem Cells Following Subretinal Transplantation in Rodents. J Ocul Pharmacol Ther. 2023 Jun;39(5):347-358. doi: 10.1089/jop.2022.0161. Epub 2023 May 4.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 1, 2015
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 31, 2021
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 31, 2031

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 2, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 5, 2014
• First Posted (Estimated): November 7, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 27, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 24, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Eye Diseases; Retinal Diseases; Retinal Degeneration; Macular Degeneration
• Other Study ID Numbers: GR44172; NCT02286089 (Registry Identifier: CT.gov)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: For eligible studies, qualified researchers may request access to individual patient level clinical data. See Roche's commitment to transparency of clinical study information here: https://go.roche.com/data_sharing

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No