Pegaptanib

Pegaptanib

Clinical data
Pregnancy category	US: B (No risk in non-human studies)
Routes of administration	Intravitreal
Legal status
Legal status	US: ℞-only
Pharmacokinetic data
Biological half-life	10 days
Identifiers
ATC code	S01LA03 (WHO)
PubChem	CID 24847876
Chemical data
Formula	C294H342F13N107Na28O188P28
Molar mass	50 kilodaltons[[]]

Pegaptanib sodium injection (brand name Macugen) is an anti-angiogenic medicine for the treatment of neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (AMD). It was discovered by Gilead Sciences and licensed in 2000 to EyeTech Pharmaceuticals, now OSI Pharmaceuticals, for late stage development and marketing in the United States. Outside the U.S.A. Macugen is marketed by Pfizer. Approval was granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December 2004.

Pegaptanib is a pegylated anti-VEGF aptamer, a single strand of nucleic acid that binds with specificity to a particular target. Pegaptanib specifically binds to VEGF 165, a protein that plays a critical role in angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels) and increased permeability (leakage from blood vessels), two of the primary pathological processes responsible for the vision loss associated with neovascular AMD.

Pegaptanib is administered in a 0.3 mg dose once every six weeks by intravitreal injection.

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