Age-Related Macular Degeneration Drug Pipeline Review

How many macular degeneration drugs are in each phase of development?

Douglas Insights counts 29 macular degeneration candidates in Phase III, 21% of the 141 assets in development; Phase II holds 42 and Phase I holds 70.

Phase I/II candidates sit in the Phase I row and Phase II/III candidates in the Phase II row, so each macular degeneration asset appears in exactly one row. The 203 trials still recruiting or running carry 39% of the 521 registered trials in scope.

Which approved macular degeneration medicines are still in trials?

5 medicines already on the market are still being tested in macular degeneration Phase IV trials; Aflibercept has the most, with 181 registered trials.

Post-approval macular degeneration trials test new doses, new patient groups and head-to-head comparisons. They set the standard of care that every candidate in development will be measured against, so the paid review profiles each one.

How many macular degeneration trials are recruiting patients now?

106 macular degeneration trials are recruiting patients and 32 more have not started recruiting yet, out of 521 interventional trials in scope; together they make up 26% of the trial base.

Terminated, suspended and withdrawn macular degeneration trials stay in the trial base so that a stalled programme is visible, but a candidate whose only trials stopped is no longer counted as in development.

Which companies lead the macular degeneration pipeline?

Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine leads the macular degeneration pipeline with 6 candidates; the top 5 sponsors hold 15% of the 141 assets, and 99 sponsors run at least one.

Industry sponsors lead 372 of the 521 macular degeneration trials (71%); universities, hospitals and public funders lead the rest. A sponsor is credited with an asset when it is the lead sponsor on most of that asset's industry trials.

Which drug types and mechanisms dominate the macular degeneration pipeline?

Mechanism and drug-type classification for the 141 macular degeneration candidates is done by the research desk asset by asset, each with a cited source, and is published in the paid review together with the white-space map.

What macular degeneration trial readouts are coming next?

23 macular degeneration candidates in Phase II or later have a registered primary completion date in the next 12 months; the next three are below, each linked to its registry record.

Primary completion is the date a sponsor expects the last patient to finish the main measurement, so data usually follow within months. Dates marked estimated are the sponsor's own forecast on the registry and often move.

How many macular degeneration readouts fall in each quarter?

38 macular degeneration candidates in Phase II or later reach registered primary completion over the next eight quarters, with the most, 9, due in Q4 2026.

Each candidate is counted once, at its next readout. The paid catalyst calendar names every readout with its trial, sponsor and design, adds filings and regulatory decisions, and runs 24 months ahead.

Which countries host the most macular degeneration trials?

United States hosts the most macular degeneration trials, with sites in 289 of the 521 studies (55%); trials in scope run in 61 countries in all.

A multinational macular degeneration trial is counted once in every country where it has a site, so the shares add up to more than 100%. Country spread shows where sponsors are building the evidence that regulators in each market will ask for.

Where are macular degeneration drugs being tested?

289 of the 521 macular degeneration trials (55%) have a site in the United States, 135 (26%) in Europe and 85 (16%) in China; 99 of the 141 candidates in development are tested in the US.

Each region's trials are the evidence its regulator will review: the FDA in the United States, the EMA (with the MHRA and Swissmedic) in Europe, the NMPA in China and the PMDA in Japan. A multinational macular degeneration trial counts once in every region where it has a site, so the shares add up to more than 100%. A candidate tested only outside the US and Europe is often a licensing opportunity for sponsors in those markets.

What has changed in the macular degeneration pipeline since the last update?

This is the first edition of the macular degeneration pipeline count, dated 3 Oct 2026. The next refresh is due by 1 Jan 2027, and each refresh lists the assets that entered, advanced or dropped out.

How does Douglas Insights count the macular degeneration pipeline?

Douglas Insights read 521 interventional trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov for the conditions "macular degeneration", "geographic atrophy" and updated since 3 Oct 2021, then grouped every drug or biologic named in them into 141 unique candidates.

1. Code names, generic names and brand names of the same molecule are merged into one candidate, and every merge is reviewed by the research desk.
2. A candidate counts when it has a trial that is recruiting, running, or completed in the last 24 months, and at least one industry-sponsored trial.
3. Its phase is the highest phase among those trials; placebo, standard-of-care and comparator arms are not candidates.
4. Each figure on this page is drawn from one frozen dataset that passes ten checks before release, and the owner approves every edition.

Read the full approach on the research methodology page, or browse other Pharmaceuticals research.

Frequently asked questions about the macular degeneration pipeline

Research & citation

This review was researched, written and reviewed by the Douglas Insights Research Desk under the Douglas Insights editorial standards. Material errors are logged in the corrections log. No section is sponsored.

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