Pegaptanib

Pegaptanib sodium injection (brand name Macugen) is an anti-angiogenic medicine for the treatment of neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (AMD). It was discovered by Gilead Sciences and licensed in 2000 to EyeTech Pharmaceuticals, now OSI Pharmaceuticals, for late stage development and marketing in the United States. Outside the U.S.A. Macugen is marketed by Pfizer. Approval was granted by the FDA in December 2004.

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Pegaptanib is a pegylated anti-VEGF aptamer, a single strand of nucleic acid that binds with specificity to a particular target. Pegaptanib specifically binds to VEGF 165, a protein that plays a critical role in angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels) and increased permeability (leakage from blood vessels), two of the primary pathological processes responsible for the vision loss associated with neovascular AMD.

Pegaptanib is administered in a 0.3 mg dose once every six weeks by intravitreal injection.