Joe Peloso avoided losing his eyesight while doing his part for science. The Naples retiree is proud that he was among 30 Southwest Florida residents who participated in a local clinical trial through Retina Health Centers. “When I was in the trial, it curbed my macular degeneration,” the 74-year old said. “At the time, it basically stopped it in its tracks.” “This is a monumental step forward,” Dr. Alexander Eaton, director of Retina Health Centers, said of its final approval. “This is the next big advancement, and it will be a couple more years before we see another big step forward,” Eaton said. When Peloso spoke to Eaton about taking part in the clinical trial, he hesitated because of the injection in the eye. In his case, his left eye. “It wasn’t that bad,” Peloso said. “You feel a little bit of pressure.” He later developed macular degeneration in his right eye, so he has had the injections in his right eye. “It was either that or go blind,” he said, which also motivated to him to quit smoking Smoking increases the odds of developing macular degeneration. “I’m 20/20 in my right eye and 20/40 in my left,” Peloso said. “I fish and read. I do a lot of exercise. I run and walk 5 miles a day” (4)., Regeneron Pharmaceuticals announced that the FDA has approved its Eylea injection treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The treatment, known in the scientific literature as VEGF Trap-Eye, was approved at a recommended dose of 2 mg every four weeks for the first twelve weeks, followed by 2 mg dose every two months (1 & 2)., Each vial should only be used for the treatment of a single eye. If the contralateral eye requires treatment, a new vial should be used and the sterile field (including a new syringe, gloves, drapes, eyelid speculum, filter and injection needles) should be changed before EYLEA HD is administered to the other eye..