NOTICE:

In 2010, Optherion completed two separate business transactions, one related to its diagnostics business and one related to its therapeutics business.

With respect to its diagnostics business, in February, 2010, Optherion completed an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Sequenom, Inc.. Under the agreement, Sequenom’s CAP accredited and CLIA-certified laboratory, Sequenom Center for Molecular Medicine (Sequenom CMM), obtained the rights to develop and commercialize diagnostic tests to predict genetic predisposition to late stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Please see News Room at Optherion.com for Sequenom’s press release.

With respect to its therapeutics business, also in 2010, Optherion completed a business transaction with another company. Both the company name and the transaction economics are confidential.

As a result of these two transactions, Optherion, itself, is no longer actively developing any diagnostics or therapeutics. Given this, the Optherion.com website has not been updated since year-end, 2010 albeit the nature of Optherion’s diagnostic and therapeutic endeavors are accurately represented in the website for the time period prior to the transactions.

Kindest regards,

Colin J. Foster
President & CEO
Optherion, Inc.

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) Chromosome 10 Polymorphisms

Susceptibility genes and progression in age-related maculopathy: a study of single eyes.
  • Farwick A, Wellmann J, Stoll M, Pauleikhoff D, Hense HW.
  • Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2010 Feb;51(2):731-6. Epub 2009 Sep 24
Analysis of the indel at the ARMS2 3'UTR in age-related macular degeneration.
  • Wang G, Spencer KL, Scott WK, Whitehead P, Court BL, Ayala-Haedo J, Mayo P, Schwartz SG, Kovach JL, Gallins P, Polk M, Agarwal A, Postel EA, Haines JL, Pericak-Vance MA.
  • Hum Genet. 2010 Feb 25
ARMS2 is a constituent of the extracellular matrix providing a link between familial and sporadic age-related macular degenerations.
  • Kortvely E, Hauck SM, Duetsch G, Gloeckner CJ, Kremmer E, Alge-Priglinger CS, Deeg CA, Ueffing M.
  • Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2010 Jan;51(1):79-88. Epub 2009 Aug 20.
Genotypic influences on severity of exudative Age-related Macular Degeneration.
  • Leveziel N, Puche N, Richard F, Somner JE, Zerbib J, Bastuji-Garin S, Cohen S, Korobelnik JF, Sahel JA, Soubrane G, Benlian P, Souied EH.
  • Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2009 Dec 30. [Epub ahead of print]
Complement factor H and LOC387715 gene polymorphisms in a Greek population with age-related macular degeneration.
  • Marioli DI, Pharmakakis N, Deli A, Havvas I, Zarkadis IK.
  • Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2009 Nov;247(11):1547-53. Epub 2009 Jun 30.
Age-related macular degeneration and risk of coronary heart disease and stroke: the Cardiovascular Health Study.
  • Sun C, Klein R, Wong TY.
  • Ophthalmology. 2009 Oct;116(10):1913-9. Epub 2009 Jul 9
Typing of ARMS2 and CFH in age-related macular degeneration: case-control study and assessment of frequency in the Italian population.
  • Ricci F, Zampatti S, D'Abbruzzi F, Missiroli F, Martone C, Lepre T, Pietrangeli I, Sinibaldi C, Peconi C, Novelli G, Giardina E.
  • Arch Ophthalmol. 2009 Oct;127(10):1368-72.
Enhanced HtrA2/Omi expression in oxidative injury to retinal pigment epithelial cells and murine models of neurodegeneration.
  • Ding X, Patel M, Shen D, Herzlich AA, Cao X, Villasmil R, Klupsch K, Tuo J, Downward J, Chan CC.
  • Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2009 Oct;50(10):4957-66. Epub 2009 May 14.
HTRA1 promoter polymorphism and risk of age-related macular degeneration: a meta-analysis.
  • Tang NP, Zhou B, Wang B, Yu RB.
  • Ann Epidemiol. 2009 Oct;19(10):740-5. Epub 2009 Apr 17.
Analyses of single nucleotide polymorphisms and haplotype linkage of LOC387715 and the HTRA1 gene in exudative age-related macular degeneration in a Chinese cohort.
  • Jiang H, Qu Y, Dang G, Zhang X, Yin N, Zhang Y, Bi H, Pan X, Xu X, Zhou F, Dai H.
  • Retina. 2009 Jul-Aug;29(7):974-9.
ARMS2 (LOC387715) variants in Japanese patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.
  • Gotoh N, Nakanishi H, Hayashi H, Yamada R, Otani A, Tsujikawa A, Yamashiro K, Tamura H, Saito M, Saito K, Iida T, Matsuda F, Yoshimura N.
  • Am J Ophthalmol. 2009 Jun;147(6):1037-41, 1041.e1-2. Epub 2009 Mar 9
Sequence variants in HTRA1 and LOC387715/ARMS2 and phenotype and response to photodynamic therapy in neovascular age-related macular degeneration in populations from Israel.
  • Chowers I, Meir T, Lederman M, Goldenberg-Cohen N, Cohen Y, Banin E, Averbukh E, Hemo I, Pollack A, Axer-Siegel R, Weinstein O, Hoh J, Zack DJ, Galbinur T.
  • Mol Vis. 2008;14:2263-71. Epub 2008 Dec 8.
Multifactor Effects and Evidence of Potential Interaction between Complement Factor H Y402H and LOC387715 A69S in Age-Related Macular Degeneration.
  • Seitsonen SP, Onkamo P, Peng G, Xiong M, Tommila PV, Ranta PH, Holopainen JM, Moilanen JA, Palosaari T, Kaarniranta K, Meri S, Immonen IR, Jarvela IE.
  • PLoS ONE, 2008;3(12):e3833. Epub 2008 Dec 2.
Meta-analysis of the association of the HTRA1 polymorphims with the risk of age-related macular degeneration.
  • Chen W, Xu W, Tao Q, Liu J, Li X, Gan X, Hu H, Lu Y.
  • Exp Eye Res. 2008 Nov. 6 [Epub ahead of print]
The HTRa1 Promoter Polymorphism, Smoking, and Age-related Macular Degeneration in Multiple Case-control Samples.
  • Tuo J, Ross RJ, Reed GF, Yan Q, Wang JJ, Bojanowski CM, Chew EY, Feng X, Olsen TW, Ferris FL 3rd, Mitchell P, Chan CC.
  • Ophthalmlogy, 2008 Nov: 115(11):1891-8. Epub 2008 Aug 21.
Joint effects of polymorphisms in the HTRA1, LOC387715/ARMS2, and CFH genes on AMD in a Caucasian population.
  • Francis PJ, Zhang H, Dewan A, Hoh J, Klein ML
  • Mol Vis. 2008 Aug 4;14:1395-400
Age-related macular degeneration is associated with an unstable ARMS2 (LOC387715) mRNA.
  • Fritsche LG, Loenhardt T, Janssen A, Fisher SA, Rivera A, Keilhauer CN, Weber BH
  • Nat Genet, 2008 July; 40(7):892-6, Epub 2008 May 30.
Alleles in the HtrA serine peptidase 1 gene alter the risk of neovascular age-related macular degeneration.
  • Deangelis MM, Ji F, Adams S, Morrison MA, Harring AJ, Sweeney MO, Capone A Jr, Miller JW, Dryja TP, Ott J, Kim IK.
  • Ophthalmology, 2008 Jul; 115(7):1209-1215.e7.Epub 2007 Dec 27.
Correlation between CFH Y402H and HTRA1 rs11200638 genotype to typical exudative age-related macular degeneration and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy phenotype in the Japanese Population.
  • Gotoh N, Yamada R, Nakanishi H, Saito M, Iida T, Matsuda F, Yoshimura N.
  • Clin Experiment Ophthalmol, 2008 Jul;36(5):437-42.
HTRA1 variants in exudative age-related macular degeneration and interactions with smoking and CFH.
  • Tam PO, Ng TK, Liu DT, Chan WM, Chiang SW, Chen LJ, DeWan A, Hoh J, Lam DS, Pang CP.
  • Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2008 Jun;49(6):2357-65.
Association of LOC387715 A69S with vitreous hemorrhage in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.
  • Sakurada Y, Kubota T, Mabuchi F, Imasawa M, Tanabe N, Iijima H.
  • Am J Ophthalmol. 2008 Jun;145(6):1058-1062. Epub 2008 Apr 9.
LOC387715, Smoking and Their Prognostic Impact on Visual Functional Status in Age-Related Macular Degeneration-The Muenster Aging and Retina Study (MARS) Cohort.
  • Neuner B, Wellmann J, Dasch B, Dietzel M, Farwick A, Stoll M, Pauleikhoff D, Hense HW.
  • Ophthalmic Epidemiol, 2008 May-Jun; 15(3): 148-54.
Variants in the 10q26 gene cluster (LOC387715 and HTRA1) exhibit enhanced risk of age-related macular degeneration along with CFH in Indian patients.
  • Kaur I, Katta S, Hussain A, Hussain N, Mathai A, Narayanan R, Hussain A, Reddy RK, Majji AB, Das T, Chakrabarti S.
  • Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci, 2008 May; 49(5):1771-6.

Further mapping of 10q26 supports strong association of HTRA1 polymorphisms with age-related macular degeneration
Daniel Gibbs, Zhenglin Yang, Ryan Constantine, Xiang Ma, Nicola J. Camp, Xian Yang, Hayou Chen, Adam Jorgenson, Vincent Hau, Andrew DeWan, Jiexi Zeng, Jennifer Harmon, Jeanette Buehler, John M. Brand, Josephine Hoh, D. Joshua Cameron, Manjusha Dixit, Zongzhong Tong, Kang Zhang
Vision Research, Volume 48, Issue 5, February 2008, Pages 685-689 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL...


HTRA1 polymorphism in dry and wet age-related macular degeneration.
  • Lin JM, Wan L, Tsai YY, Lin HJ, Tsai Y, Lee CC, Tsai CH, Tsai FJ, Tseng SH.
  • Retina. 2008 Feb;28(2):309-13.
Phenotype Analysis of Patients With the Risk Variant LOC387715 (A69S) in Age-related Macular Degeneration
  • Shuler RK Jr, Schmidt S, Gallins P, Hauser MA, Scott WK, Caldwell J, Agarwal A, Haines JL, Pericak-Vance MA, Postel EA.
  • Am J Ophthalmol. 2008 Feb;145(2):303-307. Epub 2007 Dec 3.
LOC387715/HTRA1 and complement factor H variants in patients with age-related macular degeneration seen at the mayo clinic.
  • Pulido JS, Peterson LM, Mutapcic L, Bryant S, Highsmith WE
  • Ophthalmic Genet. 2007 Dec; 28(4);203-7
A variant of mitochondrial protein LOC387715/ARMS2, not HTRA1, is strongly associated with age-related macular degeneration.
  • Kanda A, Chen W, Othman M, Branham KE, Brooks M, Khanna R, He S, Lyons R, Abecasis GR, Swaroop A.
  • Proc Natl Acad Sci U.S.A. 2007 Oct 9; 104(41):16227-32. Epub 2007 Sep 20
Association of the HTRA1 -625G>A promoter gene polymorphism with exudative age-related macular degeneration in a Central European population
  • Weger M, Renner W, Steinbrugger I, Köfer K, Wedrich A, Groselj-Strele A, El-Shabrawi Y, Schmut O, Haas A.
  • Mol Vis. 2007 Jul 24;13:1274-9.
Two genetic pathways for age-related macular degeneration
  • DeWan A, Bracken MB, Hoh J.
  • Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2007 Jun;17(3):228-33. Epub 2007 Apr 27.
Neovascular age-related macular degeneration and its association with LOC387715 and complement factor H polymorphism
  • Shuler RK Jr, Hauser MA, Caldwell J, Gallins P, Schmidt S, Scott WK, Agarwal A, Haines JL, Pericak-Vance MA, Postel EA.
  • Arch Ophthalmol. 2007 Jan;125(1):63-7.
A prospective study of 2 major age-related macular degeneration susceptibility alleles and interactions with modifiable risk factors.
  • Schaumberg DA, Hankinson SE, Guo Q, Rimm E, Hunter DJ
  • Arch Ophthalmol. 2007 Jan;125(1):55-62
Human HtrA1 in the archived eyes with age-related macular degeneration.
  • Chan CC, Shen D, Zhou M, Ross RJ, Ding X, Zhang K, Green WR, Tuo J.
  • Trans Am Ophthalmol Soc. 2007;105:92-7.
A variant of the HTRA1 gene increases susceptibility to age-related macular degeneration
  • Yang Z, Camp NJ, Sun H, Tong Z, Gibbs D, Cameron DJ, Chen H, Zhao Y, Pearson E, Li X, Chien J, Dewan A, Harmon J, Bernstein PS, Shridhar V, Zabriskie NA, Hoh J, Howes K, Zhang K.
  • Science. 2006 Nov 10;314(5801):992-3. Epub 2006 Oct 19.
HTRA1 promoter polymorphism in wet age-related macular degeneration
  • Dewan A, Liu M, Hartman S, Zhang SS, Liu DT, Zhao C, Tam PO, Chan WM, Lam DS, Snyder M, Barnstable C, Pang CP, Hoh J.
  • Science. 2006 Nov 10;314(5801):989-92. Epub 2006 Oct 19.
CFH, ELOVL4, PLEKHA1 and LOC387715 genes and susceptibility to age-related maculopathy: AREDS and CHS cohorts and meta-analyses
  • Conley YP, Jakobsdottir J, Mah T, Weeks DE, Klein R, Kuller L, Ferrell RE, Gorin MB.
  • Hum Mol Genet. 2006 Nov 1;15(21):3206-18. Epub 2006 Sep 25.
Further support for the common variants in complement factor H (Y402H) and LOC387715 (A69S) genes as major risk factors for the exudative age-related macular degeneration
  • Shastry BS.
  • Ophthalmologica. 2006;220(5):291-5.
Cigarette smoking strongly modifies the association of LOC387715 and age-related macular degeneration
  • Schmidt S, Hauser MA, Scott WK, Postel EA, Agarwal A, Gallins P, Wong F, Chen YS, Spencer K, Schnetz-Boutaud N, Haines JL, Pericak-Vance MA.
  • Am J Hum Genet. 2006 May;78(5):852-64. Epub 2006 Mar 20.
Hypothetical LOC387715 is a second major susceptibility gene for age-related macular degeneration, contributing independently of complement factor H to disease risk
  • Rivera A, Fisher SA, Fritsche LG, Keilhauer CN, Lichtner P, Meitinger T, Weber BH.
  • Hum Mol Genet. 2005 Nov 1;14(21):3227-36. Epub 2005 Sep 20.
Susceptibility genes for age-related maculopathy on chromosome 10q26.
  • Jakobsdottir J, Conley YP, Weeks DE, Mah TS, Ferrell RE, Gorin MB.
  • Am J Hum Genet. 2005 Sep;77(3):389-407. Epub 2005 Jul 26.