ISTA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ISTA) announced poster presentations of results from the Company’s Bepreve(TM) (bepotastine besilate ophthalmic solution) 1.5% Phase 3 clinical studies in allergic conjunctivitis. The studies demonstrated Bepreve was safe and well-tolerated when given twice daily for six weeks in a healthy pediatric population as young as three years of age.

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Most people get allergic conjunctivitis when their eyes come into contact with an allergen - a substance which makes the body’s immune system overreact. The eye becomes sore, inflamed and sometimes painful. Symptoms occur because the overreacting immune system makes the body release histamine and other active substances by mast cells - these cause dilation of blood vessels (blood vessels expand, widen), which irritates the nerve endings and causes increased secretion of tears.

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Fovea Pharmaceuticals announced positive results from its clinical proof-of-concept trial to assess the therapeutic effect of Prednisporin(TM) (FOV1101) in patients with persistent allergic conjunctivitis.

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For Stephen Sacks, what started out as a routine basketball game his senior year of high school turned into a medical emergency. Stephen was a young basketball star who played years of hoops without any injuries. But when he was accidentally elbowed in the eye by a teammate, Stephen ended up with a large laceration on his left eyelid and a close encounter with permanent eye damage. “After the knock to my eye, all I could see was a black haze,” Stephen recalls.

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Faculty members at the University of Houston's College of Optometry walked away with the lion's share of the Texas Optometric Association's annual awards at the group's convention last week in Austin. Leading the pack, perhaps fittingly, was the college's dean, Dr. Earl L. Smith III, who was named the state's top optometrist of the year. Dr. Kevin Gee, who heads up UH's Sports Vision Performance Center, was named the young optometrist of the year, and Dr.
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