Clinical efficacy and safety of ranibizumab in the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration

Introduction: Although several approaches have been studied for treating wet age-related macular degeneration (w-AMD), currently, the most effective strategy in the management of this visual disorder is represented by anti-VEGF drugs. Among them, ranibizumab (RBZ) is widely adopted in clinical practice for treating w-AMD.

Areas covered: VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) is a hypoxia-induced growth factor promoting neoangiogenesis, which has been correlated to the pathogenesis of w-AMD.

RBZ is a humanized, recombinant, monoclonal antibody fragment (Fab), which binds all the isoform of VEGF-A and, therefore, exerts an inhibitory activity on the growth of new pathological vessels leading to the reabsorption of VEGF-related macular edema. The pivotal trials ANCHOR and MARINA revealed its clinical efficacy and good safety profile for treating w-AMD, leading ultimately to its FDA approval. Further trials have analyzed the best dosage and regimen modality, reporting RBZ at 0.5 mg with a ‘pro re nata’ regimen (PRN) to be non-inferior to the 0.5 mg formulation administered monthly. The treat-to-extend (TAE) regimen has also been investigated, demonstrating encouraging results in terms of clinical efficacy and nonetheless, it was proven to be a well-tolerated option with the possibility of reducing the treatment burden for the patients.

Conclusions: RBZ has been proven to be an effective anti-VEGF agent for treating w-AMD; however, more optimal therapeutic regimens and drug delivery systems are being investigated in order to improve patients’ compliance and treatment burden.