Anecortave acetate in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration

RETAANE(®) 15mg (anecortave acetate suspension) is under investigation to treat exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the single largest cause of blindness in the Western world, affecting over 15 million people in the USA. RETAANE suspension is a unique synthetic cortisene and has antiangiogenic properties that were established in multiple experimental models of angiogenesis. The molecule acts at multiple sites of the angiogenic cascade. Clinical trials in patients with exudative AMD have demonstrated the excellent safety record of both the drug anecortave acetate and the posterior juxtascleral depot (PJD) administration procedure. A pivotal study comparing RETAANE suspension with placebo showed a significantly higher chance of maintaining vision in the treatment (73%) as compared with placebo (47%). Another study compared RETAANE suspension with Visudyne(®) photodynamic therapy, revealing no statistically significant differences between the two treatments over 24 months. AMD is a multi-faceted disease and therefore a molecule such as RETAANE suspension with a unique mechanism of action, demonstrated clinical efficacy, and retreatment every six months is an important potential treatment option which should be further investigated both as a monotherapy or in combination with other treatment strategies.