Clinical trials are the final research phase before a treatment is approved for the general public. Once a drug or treatment has been developed, it is testing in humans through a succession of clinical trials.

Research on treatments starts in the laboratory where scientists work to identify the processes involved. These are called Pre-Clinical studies. Clinical trials begin with Phase I trials, which test the treatment on a small number of people for safety and best dose. Phase II involves several hundred subjects to test for effectiveness. Phase III expands the study to thousands of people in order to confirm effectiveness and monitor safety and side effects. After the drug or treatment has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and made available for public use, studies continue to track side effects and success.

These clinical trials are recruiting patients to volunteer.  Participants in any clinical trial are chosen based on eligibility.  If you are interested in participating, ask your retinal specialist if you would be a good candidate.  Or, use the information in each section to contact the coordinator of the trial.  Some of these clinical trials have many sites throughout the U.S.  Others are in one location in the U.S. or in other countries.  You will always need to be examined before you are accepted and you must be available for appointments.

Clinical trials listed below are divided into three time frames. The first are the Clinical Trials that are still "Recruiting" patients to participate in the study. The second are the Trials that are currently in progress, but are "Not Recruiting" new patients. The last and final stage are those studies that are "Completed" already and have some results to report.