Results from a study of fenretinide indicate that it may be a candidate for treatment of Stargardt disease.

The study was conducted by researchers from Sytera, Inc., a start-up biopharmaceutical company in La Jolla, California, and The Jules Stein Eye Institute, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). The study was funded, in part, by a grant from the Foundation.

The Foundation Fighting Blindness is supporting very promising research to find treatments and cures for the disease.

At this time there are no treatments for Stargardt disease. However, The Foundation Fighting Blindness is supporting very promising research to find treatments and cures for the disease. Foundation supported researchers were part of the efforts to discover the gene causing Stargardt disease. Discovery of this gene—originally called ABCR but now known as the ABCA4 gene—next led FFB-supported researchers to genetically engineer a mouse with Stargardt disease. The creation of the rodent model allows researchers to better understand how the ABCA4 gene functions in the retina and how mutations in the gene cause vision loss. With this knowledge, Foundation researchers are developing experimental therapies that address the underlying genetic cause of Stargardt disease.