title: Ranibizumab: treatment in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration.
abstract: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A is a major regulator of angiogenesis and vascular permeability implicated in the development of diseases involving pathological angiogenesis and increased vascular permeability, such as neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). LUCENTIS (ranibizumab), a humanized antigen-binding fragment (Fab) that neutralizes all VEGF-A isoforms and their biologically active degradation products, was recently approved by the FDA. Ranibizumab is the first FDA-approved treatment for neovascular AMD that maintains or improves vision in > or = 90% patients and provides a > or = 15-letter improvement in visual acuity for a quarter to a third of patients with all choroidal neovascularisation subtypes. Ranibizumab was associated with a < or = 1.7% rate of key serious ocular adverse events, such as endophthalmitis and uveitis, in two pivotal Phase III trials.
authors.affiliation: The California Retina Consultants and Research Foundation, 515 East Micheltorena St, Suite C, Santa Barbara, California 93103, USA.
authors.forename: Dante J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Pieramici
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Avery
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D006801:Humans; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy*; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy*; D000069579:Ranibizumab
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D000069579:Ranibizumab