ThromboGenics NV
(Euronext Brussels: THR), a biopharmaceutical company focused on innovative
medicines for eye disease, vascular disease and cancer, announces today that
it has started a Phase II trial of microplasmin for the treatment of
exudative (wet) Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD).
Wet AMD affects approximately five million patients worldwide and this
patient population is continuing to grow. Wet AMD occurs when abnormal blood
vessels behind the retina start to grow under the macula, the central area of
the retina responsible for detailed vision. These blood vessels are often
fragile and can leak blood and fluid below the macula, causing damage to the
photoreceptors and vision loss. AMD, a disease associated with aging,
gradually destroys a patient's vision. It is the most common cause of vision
loss in patients aged 50 or older, and represents a market of over $1 billion
annually.
Abnormalities in the vitreomacular interface (the interface of the
vitreous and macula) have been implicated in wet AMD, and recent publications
have demonstrated that approximately one-third of AMD patients have focal
vitreomacular adhesion (VMA). VMA is a condition in which the vitreous gel,
in the center of the eye, has an abnormally strong adhesion to the retina at
the back of the eye, and research has found that this adhesion occurs in the
same location as the wet AMD pathology.[1]
ThromboGenics is developing microplasmin as a non-surgical treatment for
vitreomacular adhesion. Microplasmin has the potential to separate the
vitreous from the retina and, as wet AMD is thought to result from the
abnormal connection of the vitreous to the retina, it is therefore
anticipated that microplasmin could potentially prevent the progression of
this highly prevalent disease.