Small molecule
PubChem CID 5362420
Verteporfin
Visudyne
- Mechanism of action
- Light-activated photosensitizer (photodynamic therapy)
- In plain language
- An inert drug that's switched on by a precise laser light aimed at the eye, producing a burst of reactive oxygen that seals shut the abnormal blood vessels behind the retina.
- How it works
- Verteporfin is a benzoporphyrin-derivative photosensitizer that is pharmacologically inert in its resting state. Given as a 10-minute intravenous infusion, it circulates bound primarily to plasma lipoproteins and accumulates somewhat preferentially, though not exclusively, in the abnormal, proliferating vasculature of choroidal neovascular lesions. Approximately 15 minutes after the start of infusion, a nonthermal laser is applied to the lesion at a wavelength of 689 nm, matched to verteporfin's absorption peak. In the presence of oxygen, this light exposure activates the drug, generating highly reactive singlet oxygen and reactive oxygen radicals that damage the neovascular endothelium, triggering platelet aggregation and fibrin clot formation that occludes the abnormal vessels.
- Therapeutic applications
- Per FDA-approved labeling, VISUDYNE (verteporfin for injection) therapy is indicated for the treatment of patients with predominantly classic subfoveal choroidal neovascularization due to age-related macular degeneration, pathologic myopia, or presumed ocular histoplasmosis.
- Class
- Small molecule
- Therapeutic area
- Ophthalmology
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