Bayer: Science For A Better Life - research

Artificial proteins to combat macular degeneration

Glimmer of light for the eye

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Vision in focus: Dr. Georg Grötzbach and Dr. Andreas Sachse are working on ways of treating an insidious eye disease called wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

It is only as large as the head of a pin: the macula. This tiny area of the retina is responsible for sharp, central vision. It does this with some eight million visual cells on the macula, which is also known as the yellow spot. In elderly people, metabolic products accumulate here. If the body is now longer able to transport these substances away properly, the patient’s vision may be at risk. The visual cells die, and the patient may go blind.

Fishing in the bloodstream with artificial proteins
Scientists from Bayer HealthCare are now testing an active ingredient in a clinical Phase III trial that may be able to prevent this. They want to use this product to help patients who suffer from a particularly rapidly progressing variant of this eye disease called wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). To find out how scientists fish the trigger of this disease out of the bloodstream in the eye with artificial proteins, read on here.