Ranizinumab (Lucentis™)
This drug was approved by the FDA in June 2006 for the treatment of wet AMD. The below graph shows the average visual acuity change of patients treated with Lucentis v. those not treated with Lucentis. As you can see, the Lucentis prevents vision loss and is the first treatment for wet macular degeneration ever to IMPROVE vision.
The treatment as given in the patients recorded in the above graph requires an intravitreal injection monthly. Some recent studies have shown benefit with treatments monthly initially and then examination monthly and retreatment as needed. With these treatments patients require injections 6 times a year.
Lucentis is very expensive. The drug costs a little over 2000 dollars per treatment. If a patient is treated monthly this is about 24000 dollars per year. Some insurace companies require patients to pay 20% or 30% of the cost of the drug each time it is used. This is usually about 400 dollars to 700 dollars per month. Because of the high cost, alternative treatments like Avastin have been adopted in some situations.
