Eighteen or more companies are researching and developing macular degeneration treatments, among them stem-cell treatments, anti-inflammatory medicines, and implants that slowly release protective proteins to fend off cell damage. By 2020, three million Americans will have advanced cases, and not quite 2 million currently suffer from the disease. In the past year and a half, giant steps have been taken in learning about the cause of the disease and also in treatment. Two breakthrough drugs from Genentech provide hope for patients with the more severe wet form (AMD), and for the more common dry form, a series of genetic discoveries have provided the first viable clues to its causes and are providing leads for new drugs and genetic diagnostic tests. Among drugs causing considerable excitement among doctors is Lucentis for wet AMD, which is basically a fragment of the monoclonal antibody that was used to make Genentech colon cancer drug, Avastin. Lucentis stops blood vessel growth when injected into the side of the eye, and in two large-scale trials stopped vision loss in 95 percent of patients, while improving vision in one-third. Insurance covers most of the cost of Lucentis, says Genentech Chief Medical Officer Hal V. Barron, and, Until something is proven to be absolutely equivalent or better, you shouldnt mess around with something as important as vision. However, some doctors are using Avastin itself, which costs much less for a small ocular dose. Also highlighted is ongoing work at Acuity pharmaceuticals, Sirna Therapeutics, StemCell Ventures, Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, and the University of Utah.