Drug That Cures But Experimental

In what might be an act of great consequence for millions of people, the FDA has approved of a new drug to treat blindness in the elderly. The drug, Lucentis is manufactured by the California-based biotechnology company Genentech Inc. and has shown in trials to greatly help patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Since usually macular degeneration occurs in older people, it is termed age-related MD, with the dry form being more common and the wet form more destructive. The cause of this disease is the formation of new blood vessels under the retina that leak blood. This damages the macula which helps central vision and detailed vision. Dr. Eugene de Juan who is the president of the American Society of Retina Specialists estimates that over 200,000 new people are diagnosed with wet AMD annually and the figures total around 15 million people so far.

This drug then will be a ray of hope for a large fraction of the senior citizen population, as already seen in the trials. The study established that 95% of participants who were given this drug either had improved vision or it did not degenerate further. Those who were in the early stages of wet AMD showed greatest results with many of them being able to drive and read again. The drug did not benefit those whose disease had reached the advanced stage with scars forming inside - a condition that might occur as quickly as a few months sometimes.

The drug works by fastening itself to VEGF-A, a protein that contributes to formation of new blood vessels. However, it has to be injected into the eye at present though Genentech Inc is attempting to come up with a less invasive version. Another drawback is that some ophthalmologists like Dr. Richard Bensinger are apprehensive that the drug might just turn wet AMD into dry AMD which has no cure.

Added, each dose costs around $2000 with a person needing five to seven doses a year. However, over 85% of the people are insured