On June 30, 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvedranibizumab — which is manufactured by Genentech and marketedas Lucentis — for the treatment of neovascular age-relatedmacular degeneration. Ranibizumab is a fragment of a recombinantmonoclonal antibody (see Figure 1) that binds to and inhibitsall the biologically active forms of vascular endothelial growthfactor A. Administered by injection into the vitreous cavity(see Figure 2), ranibizumab prevents vision loss and improvesvisual acuity, with few serious adverse effects (as indicatedin the reports by Rosenfeld et al. and Brown et al. in thisissue . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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Dr. Steinbrook (rsteinbrook@attglobal.net) is a national correspondent for the Journal.
An interview with Dr. Frederick L. Ferris III, clinical director of the National Eye Institute, can be heard at www.nejm.org.
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