TheBeach,
WSJ is now describing QLT's PDT treatment for AMD as a potential $1B drug.
August 26, 1998
Eye Diseases Are Starting to Attract
Attention of Pharmaceutical Firms
By STEPHEN D. MOORE
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Every year, an estimated 400,000 people in Europe and the U.S. develop a severe form of an eye disease called age-related macular degeneration.
The disorder starts with abnormal growth of new blood vessels in tissue under the retina -- and leads to rapid loss of central vision, usually in both eyes. Reading small print -- or even recognizing a familiar face -- becomes excruciatingly difficult. Within a year, almost 90% of the predominantly elderly victims go legally blind.
Ophthalmologists fume about the scant help they can offer patients. "Treatment for age-related macular degeneration now is pathetic; we don't have anything," says Christopher Patterson, head of research at London's Moorefields Eye Hospital. But Dr. Patterson and other eye specialists are upbeat about an esoteric new technology called photo-dynamic therapy, or PDT, that has set off a high-stakes race among drug makers Novartis AG, Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc. and the Alcon Laboratories Inc. unit of Nestle SA.
Chemical Reaction
Originally designed to fight cancer, PDT is a two-step procedure. A light-sensitive drug injected into a patient accumulates in new blood vessels. When exposed to light from a special laser, the drug ignites a chemical reaction that collapses the blood vessels without damaging surrounding tissue.
Late this year, Novartis and biotechnology partner QLT Photo Therapeutics Inc. expect to complete a clinical trial of PDT involving 600 patients at 28 hospitals around the world. If successful, the Novartis/QLT system could win regulatory approval as early as next year.
"From all our indications, this will be a blockbuster product," says Luzi von Bidder, head of ophthalmic operations at Ciba Vision, Novartis's eye-care unit. Industry analysts agree: At a projected price of $2,000 per procedure, PDT represents a potential billion-dollar market. Pharmacia & Upjohn and Alcon, each working with its own U.S. partner, hope to reach the market early in the next decade.
The PDT contest underscores a revival in what has long been a backwater of the pharmaceutical industry. "Eye diseases have taken a back seat and few major drug makers have bothered to build serious research programs," Dr. Patterson says.
That is changing, thanks to a potent blend of demographics and scientific breakthroughs. As the age of Western populations increases, so will the prevalence of major sight-threatening diseases, from macular degeneration to cataracts and glaucoma, scientists say. In a recent study, professors Dennis Marcus and Matthew Camp from the Medical College of Georgia estimated that age-related macular degeneration affects 2% of people aged 65 but 7% of those 75 and older. By 2030, as the baby-boom generation grays, the disease will affect more than six million Americans, the authors say. Roughly the same number of Europeans are expected to be affected. Pharmaceutical companies are convinced those boomers will be more affluent than previous generations, as well as more concerned about quality of life and more willing to pay out of their own pocket, if necessary, to stay healthy.
Meanwhile, scientific breakthroughs ...
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