EYLEA (AFLIBERCEPT) IS A RECOMBINANT FUSION PROTEIN CONSISTING OF PORTIONS OF HUMAN VEGF RECEPTORS 1 AND 2 EXTRACELLULAR DOMAINS FUSED TO THE FC PORTION OF HUMAN IGG1 FORMULATED AS AN ISO-OSMOTIC SOLUTION FOR INTRAVITREAL ADMINISTRATION.
VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR-A (VEGF-A) AND PLACENTAL GROWTH FACTOR (PLGF) ARE MEMBERS OF THE VEGF FAMILY OF ANGIOGENIC FACTORS THAT CAN ACT AS MITOGENIC, CHEMOTACTIC, AND VASCULAR PERMEABILITY FACTORS FOR ENDOTHELIAL CELLS. VEGF ACTS VIA TWO RECEPTOR TYROSINE KINASES, VEGFR-1 AND VEGFR-2, PRESENT ON THE SURFACE OF ENDOTHELIAL CELLS. PLGF BINDS ONLY TO VEGFR-1, WHICH IS ALSO PRESENT ON THE SURFACE OF LEUCOCYTES. ACTIVATION OF THESE RECEPTORS BY VEGF-A CAN RESULT IN NEOVASCULARIZATION AND VASCULAR PERMEABILITY.
AFLIBERCEPT ACTS AS A SOLUBLE DECOY RECEPTOR THAT BINDS VEGF-A AND PLGF, AND THEREBY CAN INHIBIT THE BINDING AND ACTIVATION OF THESE COGNATE VEGF RECEPTORS.