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Macugen can maintain or improve visual acuity in patients with neovacular age-related macular degeneration, according to a study presented at the recent annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

The study evaluated the safety and efficiency of Macugen as a maintenance treatment. Researchers examined 211 patients aged over 50 who had subfoveal AMD and visual acuity ranging from 20/20 to 20/400. Macugen was administered every six weeks for 48 weeks with booster treatments using other agents allowed at the investigator's discretion.

Subjects maintained relative visual and anatomical stability during the maintenance period. Researchers also noted that Macugen maintenance provided an alternative to non-selective anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents.

'The visual results of this strategy were really rather good, with a high percentage of patients maintaining two- and three-line gains of acuity over the year, and 41 per cent had three lines of acuity gain from their preinduction vision,' said Dr Thomas Friberg, professor of ophthalmology and bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh. 'As Macugen is an alternative to nonselective anti-VEGF agents, this paradigm may be particularly valuable in patients at higher risk of thromboembolism or cardiovascular events.'

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