AL-3789: a novel ophthalmic angiostatic steroid.

Ocular neovascular diseases are a leading cause of blindness in the world. Research is beginning to unravel the complex mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of ocular neovascular diseases, but currently there are very few methods for the effective treatment of these blinding disorders. AL-3789 (Alcon Laboratories) is an angiostatic steroid which shows significant activity in inhibiting new blood vessel formation in a wide variety of models of neovascularisation, including neovascularisation in ocular tissues. This angiostatic steroid has broad angiostatic activity and is effective in a number of different animal species and tissues, regardless of the angiogenic stimulus. AL-3789 is devoid of conventional steroid hormone activity and does not appear to have any other pharmacological side-effects at the doses and routes of administration tested. In preclinical safety studies, AL-3789 has no apparent ocular or systemic toxicity when dosed chronically by topical ocular, or by systemic administration and therefore it appears to be a relatively safe compound.