NEW DRUG AVAILABLE FOR TREATMENT OF WET MACULAR DEGENERATION DISEASE

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NEW DRUG AVAILABLE FOR TREATMENT OF WET MACULAR DEGENERATION DISEASE
19 February 2007 - Emory University

A new drug for treatment of the wet form of age-related macular degeneration, known as AMD, has been approved by the FDA recently. AMD is a serious disease of the retina that can lead to severe vision loss and blindness.

Wet AMD is one of the leading causes of severe vision loss and blindness in the adult population. In the United States, as many as 15 million people suffer from some form of AMD-with more than 1.6 million cases of wet AMD. Approximately 200,000 new cases of wet AMD arise each year in the United States. Although wet AMD represents approximately 10% of all AMD cases, it is responsible for 90% of the severe vision loss associated with AMD, with a majority of wet AMD patients experiencing severe vision loss in the affected eye within months to two years after diagnosis of the disease. Because AMD generally affects adults over 50 years of age, the incidence of AMD should increase significantly as the baby boom generation ages and overall life expectancy increases.

Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the maker of Macugen (pegaptanib sodium injection) states that the drug may provide considerable benefits over the existing therapies for wet AMD because it addresses the abnormal blood vessel growth and blood vessel leakage associated with wet AMD. The drug is injected into the vitreous, the jelly-like substance that fills the eye.

EyeTech further states that evidence suggests that the presence in the eye of elevated levels of a protein known as vascular endothelial growth factor, or VEGF, plays an important role in causing this abnormal blood vessel growth and blood vessel leakage. Based on pre-clinical tests, EyeTech believes that Macugen (pegaptanib sodium injection) prevents VEGF from binding to its natural receptor, thereby inhibiting such abnormal blood vessel growth and blood vessel leakage.

New England Journal of Medicine editorial Frederick L. Ferris, III, MD, Clincial Director of the National Eye Institute, stated that physicians now have "&more than one way of attacking neovascularization, and thus may have the opportunity to test combinations of treatments, similar to the successful approaches used for various cancers."

Emory Eye Center's Daniel F. Martin, MD, a retinal specialist, treated the first patient in the world with Macugen in 1999 during clinical trials conducted at Emory Eye Center. "We are very pleased that this drug proved effective in large clinical trials for the treatment of web AMD," he says. "We are now investigating the drug in combination with other therapies with the hope of finding even more effective treatments."

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About: Emory University
Emory University is home to nine major academic divisions, numerous centres for advanced study, and a host of prestigious affiliated institutions. In addition to Emory College, the University encompasses a graduate school of arts and sciences; professional schools of medicine, theology, law, nursing, public health, and business; and Oxford College, a two-year undergraduate division on the original campus of Emory in Oxford, Ga.

Emory was founded at Oxford by the Methodist Church in 1836. Led by President James W. Wagner, an award-winning teacher and scholar, the University has 11,300 students and 2,500 faculty members who represent all regions of the United States and more than 100 foreign nations.

Emory University is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities. For more than a decade Emory has been named one of the country's top 25 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, a comprehensive metropolitan health care system.

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