At the AAO meeting in October, researchers reported that anti-VEGF drugs such as ranibizumab (Lucentis) and pegaptanib (Macugen), normally used to treat “wet” age-related macular degeneration, also appeared to be effective in improving visual acuity in patients with diabetic macular edema in a series of randomized, controlled trials.

Because neovascularization helps drive diabetic macular edema, both drugs — as well as bevacizumab (Avastin), another VEGF inhibitor — have often been used off-label to treat retinopathy in diabetics. The purpose of the recent studies has been to confirm the drugs’ benefits and safety in this application and to find the optimal doses and schedules.

Read ^[1] the full story on MedPage Today.