MACUGEN®
MACUGEN® treatment, also known as pegaptanib sodium injection, is used to treat patients with the wet form of age-related macular degeneration, or AMD. MACUGEN treatment helps to preserve vision by slowing neovascularization, a process where tiny, abnormal blood vessels develop in the eye. During the MACUGEN treatment, injections are administered directly into the eye to stop the growth of abnormal blood vessels and to slow vision loss. In the case of AMD, such vessels leak into the macula, a highly pigmented spot near the center of the retina, affecting a patients central vision.
MACUGEN treatment successfully interrupts the process known as angiogenesis where an important protein, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), creates new blood vessels from pre-existing ones. Much of the time, angiogenesis is a life-giving process, as when it helps to develop new blood vessels during normal embryonic growth or after surgery. With AMD it precipitates abnormal growth of blood vessels as part of the disease process. It is this damaging progression that MACUGEN impedes, helping to stem the tide of blood vessel growth and leakage to prevent occlusion and preserve vision.
Research has demonstrated that MACUGEN injections, given at 6 week intervals for up to 2 years, significantly reduces the risk of vision loss in patients with all types of wet AMD. There is strong evidence to suggest that not only does Macugen treatment work well in this capacity, but that the sooner Macugen treatment is begun, the more successful it is in preserving vision in the future. Early in the 21st century, MACUGEN became the first anti-VEGF inhibitor to be approved by the FDA for the treatment of wet AMD.