Pfizer, the world’s biggest drugmaker, and Genentech, the darling of the biotech sector, are about to square off over age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in people over the age of 60. The battle will be fought between Macugen, a drug Pfizer (nyse: PFE - news - people ) has licensed from New York-based Eyetech (nasdaq: EYET - news - people ), and Lucentis, a medicine made by Genentech (nyse: DNA - news - people ) that’s still far from reaching the FDA. Both drugs work by inhibiting the growth of extra blood vessels in the eye. Fluid seeping out of these blood vessels can damage the retina, causing the so-called “wet form” of macular degeneration, resulting in a deterioration of sight over months or years.
