Eyedrop for wet AMD being developed

A revolutionary way to treat patients with wet age-related macular degeneration is currently in a clinical program. Ohr Pharmaceutical announced that it took the intravenous formulation of its Squalamine and reformulated it to a topical eye drop. This new formulation has decreased potential for side effects and will offer patients a choice in their method of  treatment. The Squalamine drops have several advantages over the current therapy used to treat wet age-related macular degeneration which is Lucentis. Lucentis is administered by injections into the eye, has the potential for serious side effects and is very expensive. Not only would the Squalamine drops be non-invasive but they would be more cost effective as well and side effects would be minimized. While the wet form of age-related macular degeneration accounts for only 15 percent of all cases of macular degeneration, it causes 90 percent of the severe cases of vision loss associated with the condition. Every year in the United States, more than 200,000 cases of wet age-related macular degeneration are diagnosed.* Elise Ervin Staff Writer