ARMD TREATMENT
Also known as Age-Related Macular Degeneration

While no current Food and Drug Administration-approved macular degeneration treatment is likely to completely restore vision lost to macular degeneration, some drugs may be able to preserve or even improve remaining vision. Also, certain investigational treatments have shown promise for reversing at least some vision loss in many AMD patients.

FDA-Approved Macular Degeneration Treatments

Lucentis. Approved by the FDA on June 30, 2006 for treating the more advanced or "wet" form of macular degeneration, Lucentis (ranibizumab) is a form of the colorectal cancer treatment drug, Avastin.  Genentech in collaboration with Novartis Ophthalmics is marketing this new drug, similar in action to Macugen (see below) in that it targets VEGF protein thought to contribute to development of AMD by promoting growth of abnormal blood vessels in the back of the eye .
Lucentis clinical trial results leading to FDA approval have been extremely promising. In late 2005, Genentech announced results of one study demonstrating improved or stable vision in about 95% of participants compared with only about 60% of people receiving another treatment. Vision improvement with Lucentis was significant. While only 11% of the control group could see 20/40 or better following the study, about 40% of Lucentis patients were able to do so. In overall study results, about one-third of patients undergoing clinical trials experienced vision improvement.
Lucentis is administered through monthly injections into the eye. An FDA news release about the approval says rare adverse reactions to the drug mainly were associated with the injection itself. Complications of treatment can include severe inflammation within the eye (endophthalmitis), increased eye pressure (intraocular pressure), traumatic cataract, or retinal detachment or tear.

Some eye doctors are debating whether the above-mentioned Avastin should be used in the eye instead of Lucentis. Avastin is significantly less expensive but was not developed as a macular degeneration treatment.
Macugen. This newer treatment for AMD (pegaptanib sodium) uses a therapeutic molecule to attack a protein that causes abnormal blood vessel growth in the eye; it was FDA-approved in December 2004.  The drug, developed by Eyetech Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer, is administered through injections into the eye, with treatments required every six weeks. In clinical trials, 33% of patients receiving Macugen maintained or improved their vision compared with only 22% in the control group. Macugen also helped slow the rate of vision loss for many macular degeneration patients.

Moby's Drug Consult (2006) reports that fewer than 1% of patients receiving Macugen experienced serious side effects such as retinal detachments or severe inflammation of interior eye structures (endophthalmitis). Less serious side effects such as eye floaters and discomfort occurred in up to 40% of patients.

Visudyne drug treatment (Photodynamic Therapy or PDT). Visudyne was the first drug therapy for treatment of the wet form of the disease. It is only for those patients who have new blood vessel growth (neovascularization) under the retina in a well defined, distinctive pattern known as "predominantly classic." About 40%-60% of new wet AMD patients have this form of macular degeneration, according to Novartis, the company that markets Visudyne (QLT Inc. developed it).
In this treatment procedure, the doctor injects Visudyne into your arm, then activates the drug as it passes through the retinal blood vessels by shining a non-thermal laser with a specific wavelength into your eye. Visudyne is activated by the laser light, which produces a chemical reaction that destroys abnormal blood vessels. The procedure is virtually painless, according to Novartis.