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Preliminary
results from a Phase II clinical trial show that anecortave
acetate, a drug currently under development, preserves or
improves vision in patients with the wet form of age-related
macular degeneration.
The results,
presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Research
in Vision and Ophthalmology in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, are
based on a six-month analysis of an ongoing 24-month study.
Alcon
Research, Ltd. is conducting the Phase II study in the United
States and Europe to test the safety and effectiveness of
anecortave acetate for the treatment of age-related macular
degeneration as a single therapy.
Anecortave
acetate is delivered around the back of the eye, where it
comes into contact with the macular portion of the retina.
In the
six-month single-therapy study, patients given anecortave
acetate experienced 25 percent less loss of visual acuity
than patients given a placebo. Eighteen percent of the patients
treated with anecortave acetate actually improved their visual
acuity, an effect not seen in any of the patients treated
with a placebo.
"These
data suggest the potential of anecortave acetate to provide
us with a major new form of therapy to stabilize or even improve
vision in patients with exudative, or the wet form of, macular
degeneration," said Dr. Jason Slakter, retinal specialist
at Vitreous-Retina-Macula Consultants of New York and Clinical
Professor of Ophthalmology at the New York University School
of Medicine, who presented the results of the study. "In
addition, this study showed the drug significantly reduced
lesion growth, which is highly correlated with the progression
of the disease and loss of functional vision."
Source:
Medical Week staff,
week of May 19, 2002
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