Wet AMD can be treated, and there are a growing number of effective treatment options available. In the past, the only way to seal leaking blood vessels in wet AMD was using a laser in a procedure called Laser Photocoagulation. In the 1990s, a treatment called Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) was developed using Visudyne™ (a drug injected into the bloodstream that is activated by the laser when it passes into the affected area of the eye).

Beginning in 2004, an even more effective type of treatment, called “Targeted Therapy” was developed. These latest treatments take aim at the specific protein, VEGF, which causes abnormal new blood vessels to form through the process of angiogenesis in wet AMD.  Treatments called anti-VEGF therapies have now revolutionized the treatment of wet AMD, saving vision and maintaining quality of life for millions of people around the world.