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Lucentis/Visudyne combo meets endpoints in early trial

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SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — A combination of photodynamic therapy and an investigational drug for the treatment of predominantly classic subfoveal wet age-related macular degeneration has maintained vision in patients with AMD, according to preliminary results from a phase 1/2 trial.

Lucentis (ranibizumab, Genentech) and Visudyne (verteporfin for injection, Novartis/QLT) maintained or improved vision in 90% of the 162 patients treated compared with about 68% of subjects on the control arm of the PDT alone, according to a Genentech press release. Patients treated with the combination had, on average at 12 months, a “significant improvement in visual acuity compared with visual acuity at study entry,” according to Genentech. The PDT-only group demonstrated a decline in mean visual acuity from baseline to 12 months.

Adverse events included uveitis in patients treated with Lucentis in combination with Visudyne. Endophthalmitis was the second most common ocular adverse event occurring in patients treated with Lucentis, the release said.