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Acute Macular Degeneration

Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in people over 50. In AMD the central field of vision is lost whilst the peripheral vision is retained. There are two forms of AMD, 'wet' and 'dry', and it is the wet form that is responsive to PDT.

Wet AMD is characterised by the growth of abnormal blood vessels behind the macula (which is the central part of the retina), leading to the latter's distortion and so loss of the central field of vision. According to QLT there are some 500,000 cases of wet AMD annually which account for 15% of all AMD cases but 90% of all the severe vision loss associated with the condition. Ciba Vision, QLT's marketing partner, launched Visudyne in April 2000. The success of the product is such that it rapidly became the number one ophthalmic product worldwide. The product is still being 'rolled-out' in Europe but QLT predict sales in 2001 of $250million versus a current annualised rate of some $160 million. QLT and Ciba Vision are continuing to develop new indications, including pathologic myopia and ocular histoplasmosis syndrome. Other companies are also developing PDT products for these indications.

Based upon this it seems safe to predict that PDT sales in ophthalmology could reach $500million during the second half of this decade.