AMD is a degenerative disease of the retina leading to a loss of visual function. It is one of the principal causes of visual impairment in the world and the leading cause of blindness in developed countries.
Estimation: Number of people with AMD in 2020 is 196 million, increasing to 288 million in 2040.
Wong et al.
The wet neovascular form is less common but causes serious loss of vision. It is an age-related disease associated with overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), causing choroidal neovascularization, as well as the deposition of drusen in the sub-RPE and a breakdown of the RPE and Bruck’s membrane. The newly-formed capillaries are abnormally permeable and their leakage leads to a scarring of the macula and blindness.
healthy fundus
dry AMD
wet AMD
Current therapy options
While there is no treatment currently available for dry AMD, patients who suffer from wet AMD have an early treatment option that can prevent blindness and, in many cases, restore vision.
VEGF is a key regulator of physiological and pathological angiogenesis and has been in the focus of research as a therapeutic target over the last years. There have been significant advances in the management of exudative or so-called wet age-related macular degeneration with the introduction of anti-angiogenesis therapy via inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Inhibition of VEGF via repetitive intraocular injection of anti-VEGF antibodies over several years has become the gold standard in the treatment of wet AMD.
However, these treatments are very expensive, and in our own studies we found that many patients do not respond to this kind of therapy.
Estimates of the global cost of visual impairment due to AMD reach $343 billion, including $255 billion in direct health care costs. The direct health care costs of visual impairment due to AMD in the US, Canada, and Cuba together (WHO subregion AMR-A), are approximately US$98 billion.
The global cost of vision loss due to all causes is estimated to be nearly $3 trillion dollars for the 733 million people living with low vision and blindness worldwide. In North America alone, the direct cost for vision loss due to all causes was $512.8 billion, and the indirect costs were $179 billion.