"Inflammation-Reducing Drug Ineffective for Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration, NIH Trial Finds"
A phase II clinical study at the National Eye Institute (NEI) found that the drug minocycline, which reduces inflammation, did not slow vision loss or geographic atrophy expansion in people with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The trial, led by Tiarnan Keenan, M.D., Ph.D., tested whether inhibiting microglia with minocycline might help slow geographic atrophy expansion and its corresponding vision loss, but found no difference in geographic atrophy expansion rate or vision loss with minocycline. The study was funded by the NEI Intramural Program and took place at the NIH Clinical Center.