Study in Human iPSCs-derived RPE Cells Transplantation for Late-Stage AMD

Study in Human iPSCs-derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells Transplantation for Late-Stage Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Phase I Study of the Safety and Preliminary Efficacy of Human induced pluripotent stem cells-derived Retinal Pigment Epithelial (HiPSC-RPE) Cells Subretinal Transplantation in Late-Stage Age-Related Macular Degeneration(AMD) Patients

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: AMD - Age-Related Macular Degeneration
• Intervention / Treatment: Biological: HiPSC-RPE cells; Drug: Erlotinib (150 mg daily); Drug: Prednisone

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 9
• Phase: Phase 2; Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Songtao Yuan, M.D.; Phone Number: +86159-5108-8899; Email: songtaoyuan@njmu.edu.cn

Study Locations

• China
  • Jiangsu
    • Nanjing, Jiangsu, China, 210029
      • The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University
      • Contact: Yue Wang; Phone Number: +86 13405818362

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• (1)Age ≥50 years and ≤80 years, regardless of gender.
• (2)Patients with atrophic AMD in the macular area (geographic atrophy >250μm, involving the foveal center); or stable non-exudative AMD patients who have undergone treatment for wet AMD or have naturally converted to non-exudative AMD (referring to patients with fibrovascular scar formation, who are unresponsive to anti-VEGF treatment, and have no macular edema on OCT and/or no fluorescein leakage on FFA), with a scar diameter not exceeding 6 PD.
• (3)Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of the study eye ≥5 letters and ≤34 letters (using the ETDRS visual acuity chart).
• (4)If both eyes meet the criteria, the more severely affected eye will be selected; if the severity is the same in both eyes, the right eye will be designated as the study eye.
• (5)The patient or their legal representative has signed a written informed consent form.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Ocular Diseases:
• (1)Vitreous hemorrhage in the study eye within 2 months prior to screening.
• (2)Presence of a scar, fibrosis, or atrophy involving the fovea in the study eye, or a peripheral scar area greater than 6 PD, indicating severe irreversible visual loss.
• (3)Presence of pseudoexfoliation syndrome, central retinal vein occlusion, intraocular hemorrhage causing visual loss, rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, macular hole, or choroidal neovascularization due to any cause in the study eye.
• (4)Presence of a pupillary block defect (APD) in the study eye.
• (5)Significant media opacity in the study eye that may interfere with visual function assessment or fundus examination.
• (6)Acute infectious inflammation in either eye during the screening period.
• (7)Patients with intraocular pressure higher than 25 mmHg despite medical treatment.
• (8)Monocular blind patients.

Ocular Treatments:

• (9)The study eye has undergone focal/grid laser photocoagulation within 3 months prior to screening.
• (10)The study eye has undergone the following intraocular surgeries or laser treatments within 3 months prior to screening, such as macular translocation, cataract surgery, glaucoma filtration surgery, verteporfin photodynamic therapy, transpupillary thermotherapy, foveal laser photocoagulation, vitrectomy, optic nerve decompression, or optic nerve sheath decompression.
• (11)Any eye has received anti-angiogenic drug treatment (including any anti-VEGF drugs) within 3 months prior to screening (e.g., Aflibercept [Eylea®], Ranibizumab [Lucentis®], Bevacizumab [Avastin®]).

Systemic Diseases, Treatments, and Other Conditions:

• (12)Patients with an allergic reaction or history of allergy to sodium fluorescein and indocyanine green, a history of allergy to protein products used for treatment or diagnosis, and patients with allergies to two or more drugs and/or non-drug factors, or those currently suffering from allergic diseases.
• (13)Patients with uncontrolled diabetes (fasting blood glucose ≥7.0 mmol/L or 2-hour postprandial blood glucose ≥11.1 mmol/L).
• (14)Patients with a history of surgical procedures within 1 month prior to screening, or those with unhealed wounds, ulcers, fractures, etc.
• (15)Patients with uncontrolled hypertension (defined as a single measurement of systolic blood pressure >180 mmHg, two consecutive measurements of systolic blood pressure >160 mmHg, or diastolic blood pressure >100 mmHg despite optimal treatment).
• (16)Patients with a history of myocardial infarction within 6 months prior to enrollment.
• (17)Patients with active disseminated intravascular coagulation or a significant tendency to bleed; patients who have used anticoagulant or antiplatelet aggregation drugs within 14 days prior to screening, except for aspirin/nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
• (18)Patients with any uncontrollable clinical issues (such as severe psychiatric, neurological, cardiovascular, respiratory, malignant tumors, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and other systemic diseases).
• (19)Women of childbearing age with a positive pregnancy test during the screening period. Women who wish to breastfeed during the study period, and all patients of childbearing age (male and female) who do not agree to take effective contraceptive measures (such as intrauterine devices, oral contraceptives, or condoms) throughout the study period and for 30 days after the end of the visit period.
• (20)Patients who have participated in or are currently participating in other clinical studies within 30 days prior to screening.
• (21)Hemoglobin <100 g/L, platelets ≤100×109/L, neutrophil count <1.0×109/L, ALT/AST >1.5×upper limit of normal (ULN), creatinine >1.3 mg/dL.
• (22)Patients deemed unsuitable for inclusion by the investigator, or other medical conditions that limit the subject's compliance, safety, or affect the results of the study trial.

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: HiPSC-RPE cells; Subretinal transplantation of HiPSC-RPE cells in experimental eye

Biological: HiPSC-RPE cells; HiPSC-RPE cells transplantation directly into the subretinal space of one eye (experimental eye) in a single transplant procedure; Drug: Erlotinib (150 mg daily); Subjects began oral administration of erlotinib one day before surgery at a dose of 150 mg once daily for a total duration of 1 month.; Drug: Prednisone; Prednisone was initiated 3 days prior to surgery at a dose of 30 mg/day (5 mg per tablet, 6 tablets daily) and continued for 6 weeks, with the dose tapered by one tablet per week until discontinuation.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of subjects with adverse events	Descriptive analysis of frequency and types of adverse events experienced by each subject during the study period.	Two years following transplantation

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Assessment of visual acuity using the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) visual acuity chart.	Visual acuity will be assessed using the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) visual acuity chart. Scores range from 0 to 100 letters, where higher scores represent better visual acuity.	From enrollment to the end of visiting at 2 years
Assessment of visual function changes-microperimetry	Microperimetry results within 2 degrees and 4 degrees.	From enrollment to the end of visiting at 2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Songtao Yuan, M.D., The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): February 10, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 9, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 11, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): February 18, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 18, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 11, 2026
• Last Verified: October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: AMD; Age-Related Macular Degeneration; Macular Degeneration; Late-Stage Age-related Macular Degeneration
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Eye Diseases; Retinal Diseases; Retinal Degeneration; Macular Degeneration; Heterocyclic Compounds; Heterocyclic Compounds, 2-Ring; Heterocyclic Compounds, Fused-Ring; Polycyclic Compounds; Pregnadienes; Pregnanes; Steroids; Fused-Ring Compounds; Pregnadienediols; Quinazolines; Erlotinib Hydrochloride; Prednisone
• Other Study ID Numbers: JSPH-iPSCs-RPE-001

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

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