Future Perspectives: Agents on the Horizon.

As demonstrated in the previous chapters of this textbook, retinal pharmacotherapeutics is a rapidly developing area. The enormous burden of disease in an aging population will hopefully be met by significant improvements in our understanding and treatment of disease processes such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy. This chapter will provide perspectives on select anti-angiogenic drugs currently in development, as well as therapies directed against the complement cascade for the treatment of AMD, and an anti-inflammatory monoclonal antibody for the treatment of diabetic macular edema, among others, that have not been discussed elsewhere in this book. The mechanism of action of a number of drugs under discussion differs enough to have the potential to control neovascularization in several different ways, potentially allowing for more effective management of this process with fewer treatments.