Ranibizumab for the treatment of degenerative ocular conditions

Abstract

Magdalini Triantafylla,1 Horace F Massa,2 Doukas Dardabounis,1 Zisis Gatzioufas,2 Vassilios Kozobolis,1 Konstantinos Ioannakis,1 Irfan Perente,1,3 Georgios D Panos1,21Department of Ophthalmology, University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, School of Medicine, University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece; 2Department of Ophthalmology, Geneva University Hospitals, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland; 3Beyoglou Eye Research and Teaching Hospital, Istanbul University, Istanbul, TurkeyAbstract: Degenerative ocular conditions, such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein occlusions, and myopic degeneration, have become a major public health problem and a leading cause of blindness in developed countries. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drugs seem to be an effective and safe treatment for these conditions. Ranibizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody antigen-binding fragment, which inhibits all biologically active isoforms of VEGF-A, is still the gold standard treatment for the majority of these pathological entities. In this review, we present the results of the most important clinical trials concerning the efficacy and safety of ranibizumab for the treatment of degenerative ocular conditions.Keywords: age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, retinal vein occlusion, anti-VEGF, safety, efficacy, quality of life