Ranibizumab Injection
Ranibizumab is an eye injection used to treat wet age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, and diabetic retinopathy.
🧬 Where this information comes from Click to expand
The clinical label records used on this page are FDA-filed Structured Product Labeling (SPL) retrieved through openFDA. We identified 2 clinical label sets within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, strengths, and NDC product-record counts are built separately from matching FDA National Drug Code Directory records. The linked DailyMed document is a representative official source for verification, not the page’s only clinical source. View the linked label on DailyMed →
⚠️ FDA Boxed Warning — the FDA’s strongest safety alert ▾
Susvimo carries a serious warning about a risk of endophthalmitis — a severe infection inside the eye. Studies showed that patients using the Susvimo implant experienced endophthalmitis at up to 3 times the rate of patients receiving monthly ranibizumab injections. Many of these infections happened in patients who had tearing or breakdown of the conjunctiva (the thin tissue that covers the white part of the eye) near the implant. Catching and surgically repairing these tissue problems early may help lower the risk. Watch for signs of eye infection — including eye redness, pain, increased sensitivity to light, or worsening vision — and contact your doctor immediately if any of these occur.
📖 Ranibizumab Injection: Patient Information Guide
A plain-language walkthrough of Ranibizumab Injection — what it treats, how it works, how it’s taken, side effects, warnings and interactions. Tap any section to expand it.
🎯What it's used for▾
Ranibizumab injection is a VEGF inhibitor used to treat conditions in the eye involving abnormal blood vessel growth or fluid buildup that can damage vision.
- Lucentis: Neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
- Lucentis: Diabetic macular edema (DME)
- Lucentis: Diabetic retinopathy (DR)
- Lucentis: Macular edema following retinal vein occlusion (RVO)
- Lucentis: Myopic choroidal neovascularization (mCNV — abnormal blood vessel growth related to severe nearsightedness)
- Susvimo: Neovascular (wet) AMD — in patients who have already responded to at least two intravitreal VEGF inhibitor injections
- Susvimo: Diabetic macular edema (DME) — in patients who have already responded to at least two intravitreal VEGF inhibitor injections
- Susvimo: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) — in patients who have already responded to at least two intravitreal VEGF inhibitor injections
⚙️How it works▾
Ranibizumab is an antibody fragment that locks onto a protein called VEGF-A (vascular endothelial growth factor A). VEGF-A normally tells blood vessels to grow and become leaky — a process that causes damage in conditions like wet AMD, diabetic macular edema, and diabetic retinopathy. By blocking VEGF-A from attaching to its receptors on blood vessel cells, ranibizumab stops abnormal vessel growth, reduces fluid leakage into the retina, and helps preserve vision.
💊How it's taken▾
Ranibizumab injection is always given directly into the eye (intravitreal) by a healthcare professional — never self-administered at home.
- Lucentis is delivered as a direct intravitreal injection on a schedule your eye doctor determines based on your condition.
- Susvimo is delivered through a tiny implant surgically placed in the eye that continuously releases the medication. For wet AMD and DME, the implant is refilled approximately every 6 months. For diabetic retinopathy, it is refilled approximately every 9 months.
- Supplemental intravitreal ranibizumab injections may be given alongside the Susvimo implant if your doctor feels it is clinically needed.
- Always follow your prescriber's exact schedule; do not skip or delay refill appointments without talking to your doctor first.
🤒Side effects — in detail▾
The most common side effects with ranibizumab injection are eye-related and often mild.
- Conjunctival hemorrhage (a red spot on the white of the eye)
- Eye pain or discomfort
- Vitreous floaters (spots or shapes drifting across your vision)
- Increased pressure inside the eye (intraocular pressure)
- Foreign body sensation or eye irritation
- Blurred vision or visual disturbance
- Intraocular inflammation (swelling inside the eye)
- Dry eye or increased tearing
Serious reactions — including endophthalmitis (severe eye infection), retinal detachment, or vitreous hemorrhage (bleeding inside the eye) — are less common but require immediate medical attention. Contact your doctor right away if you notice sudden vision changes, eye pain, increased redness, or new floaters.
⚠️Warnings & precautions▾
- Endophthalmitis (serious eye infection): The Susvimo implant is associated with up to a 3-fold higher rate of endophthalmitis compared to monthly eye injections. Signs include eye redness, pain, light sensitivity, and vision changes — report these immediately.
- Retinal detachment: The retina can pull away from the back of the eye, which can cause vision loss. Sudden new floaters, flashes of light, or a shadow in your vision are warning signs.
- Vitreous hemorrhage (bleeding inside the eye): This can cause temporary vision loss. Patients on blood thinners face a higher risk; your doctor may ask you to pause those medications before the implant procedure.
- Implant dislocation: The Susvimo implant can shift out of position, requiring urgent surgery to correct.
- Conjunctival erosion or retraction: Breakdown or pulling away of the tissue overlying the implant increases infection risk and may need surgical repair.
- Postoperative decrease in vision: It is normal for vision to temporarily decrease in the first one to two months after Susvimo implant insertion; this typically improves over time.
- Intraocular inflammation: Swelling inside the eye can occur after implantation, most often in the first week, and usually resolves within the first month.
🔀What it interacts with▾
Formal drug interaction studies have not been conducted with ranibizumab injection, but two situations warrant caution.
- Photodynamic therapy (PDT): Using Lucentis within 7 days of PDT has been linked to serious inflammation inside the eye — the timing of these two treatments together needs to be carefully managed by your doctor.
- Blood-thinning medications (anticoagulants, aspirin, NSAIDs): These may raise the risk of vitreous hemorrhage (bleeding in the eye) around the time of the Susvimo implant insertion procedure. Your doctor may recommend pausing them temporarily before the procedure.
This is not a complete list of interactions. Always talk with your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping, or changing any medication.
📋Before taking it▾
- Active eye or surrounding-tissue infection: Ranibizumab cannot be used if you have an active ocular or periocular infection.
- Active inflammation inside the eye: This is also a contraindication — treatment must wait until it resolves.
- Allergy to ranibizumab: Tell your doctor if you have ever had a reaction to ranibizumab or any ingredient in these products.
- Pregnancy: Animal studies showed a potential risk of skeletal abnormalities at high doses. Because of how ranibizumab works, it may pose a risk to a developing baby. Women who can become pregnant should use effective contraception during Susvimo treatment and for at least 12 months after the last dose.
- Breastfeeding: It is not known whether ranibizumab passes into breast milk. Discuss the benefits and risks with your doctor.
- Children: The safety and effectiveness of Susvimo in pediatric patients have not been established.
- Older adults: No significant difference in safety or effectiveness was seen in patients 65 and older, who made up the majority of clinical trial participants.
- Kidney disease: Mild to severe kidney impairment does not require a dose change, but inform your doctor of any kidney problems.
🚑If you take too much▾
Higher-than-recommended concentrations of ranibizumab have been administered to patients in clinical settings without unexpected additional side effects being observed. If you are concerned about receiving too much medication, contact your doctor or seek medical attention promptly.
📡Pharmacodynamics — effects in the body▾
In patients treated with ranibizumab, measurable reductions in retinal thickness — a sign of reduced fluid buildup — were seen as early as one week after the first injection and continued through months of treatment in studies of AMD, DME, diabetic retinopathy, and macular edema following retinal vein occlusion. In wet AMD, the area of abnormal blood vessel leakage also decreased on average by month 3. Improvements in diabetic retinopathy severity were observed as early as month 3 and sustained through 3 years of treatment.
🔬Pharmacokinetics — how your body processes it▾
After Lucentis intravitreal injections, ranibizumab is absorbed into the bloodstream in very small amounts — serum levels are roughly 90,000-fold lower than levels inside the eye — and peak in the blood about 1 day after each injection, with an estimated elimination half-life (the time it takes the body to clear half the drug) of about 9 days. The Susvimo implant provides a continuous, sustained release of ranibizumab into the vitreous (the gel inside the eye), with serum concentrations maintained in a range consistent with monthly injections. Ranibizumab, as an antibody fragment, is primarily cleared by normal protein breakdown (catabolism). No dose adjustment is needed based on kidney function, as differences in clearance were not clinically meaningful.
📦How to store it▾
Store SUSVIMO initial fill needle kit at 2°C to 8°C (36°F to 46°F). Do not freeze. Protect from light.
📄 Written from Ranibizumab Injection’s FDA-approved label information, summarized in plain language with AI, and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Every point is grounded in that labeling — nothing is invented. How we use AI →
🩺 Pharmacist Counseling Corner
Quick, plain-English answers to the questions patients ask most about Ranibizumab Injection — the kind of thing our pharmacy team would talk through with you at the counter.
What exactly is ranibizumab doing inside my eye? ▾
What's the difference between Lucentis and Susvimo? ▾
What side effects should I actually watch out for? ▾
I'm on a blood thinner — is that a problem? ▾
Is it safe if I'm pregnant or trying to get pregnant? ▾
My vision actually got a little worse after getting the Susvimo implant — is that normal? ▾
Is Ranibizumab Injection available over the counter? ▾
When was Ranibizumab Injection first available? ▾
Who makes Ranibizumab Injection? ▾
💬 Answers drafted from Ranibizumab Injection’s FDA-approved label information, summarized in plain language with AI, and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Grounded in that labeling — nothing is made up. How we use AI →
🧰 Keep exploring
💊 How Ranibizumab Injection comes
Ranibizumab Injection is available in 1 form. Different forms and brands can have different approved uses, doses, schedules, and directions. Follow the instructions for your exact product, and do not switch forms without guidance from your prescriber or pharmacist.
Injection
How this form is used
- Lucentis is used for neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, diabetic retinopathy, macular edema following retinal vein occlusion, and myopic choroidal neovascularization
- Susvimo is used for neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, and diabetic retinopathy in patients who have already responded to at least two intravitreal injections of a VEGF inhibitor
- Lucentis is administered as a direct intravitreal (into-the-eye) injection by a trained eye doctor on a schedule set by your prescriber
- Susvimo is delivered through a small implant surgically placed in the eye; the implant is filled and inserted in an operating room under sterile conditions by a surgeon experienced in vitreoretinal surgery
- Susvimo requires a refill-exchange procedure approximately every 6 months for wet AMD and DME, or approximately every 9 months for diabetic retinopathy
- Susvimo must not be used as a direct bolus (one-time) intravitreal injection and must not be substituted with other ranibizumab products
📊 Ranibizumab Injection across the U.S. market
How Ranibizumab Injection appears in the FDA’s National Drug Code Directory — including its dosage forms, strengths, brand names, manufacturers, and FDA-listed product records. These are directory records, not sales or prescription volume.
Share of FDA-listed product records by manufacturer — FDA National Drug Code Directory. Record counts are not sales or prescription volume.
📈 How widely Ranibizumab Injection is used
A general measure of how commonly Ranibizumab Injection is prescribed, based on Medicaid — one of the largest public drug programs. The figure below is prescriptions filled in Q1–Q4 2025, summed across every form and brand of the drug.
Think of this as a proxy for how widely Ranibizumab Injection is used, drawn from freely available public data. Medicaid is just one program — these numbers don’t include Medicare, other government coverage, or commercial and cash-pay prescriptions, so real-world use is higher than what’s shown here.
How commonly is Ranibizumab Injection prescribed? Of the 1,596 medications we measure, Ranibizumab Injection ranks #840 by Medicaid prescriptions — more than 47% of them.
Utilization by Ranibizumab Injection product
Pick a product to see its own Medicaid numbers. Each chip is one clinical product — a specific strength & dosage form as defined by RxNorm — with brand-name and generic versions combined.
0.05 ML ranibizumab 10 MG/ML Prefilled Syringe Most dispensed
Summed across the 1 of 2 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 1864423
0.05 ML ranibizumab 6 MG/ML Prefilled Syringe
Summed across the 1 of 2 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 2045501
0.05 ML ranibizumab-eqrn 6 MG/ML Injection
Summed across the 2 of 2 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 2612675
0.05 ML ranibizumab-eqrn 10 MG/ML Injection
Summed across the 2 of 2 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 2612684
0.05 ML ranibizumab-nuna 10 MG/ML Injection
Summed across the 1 of 5 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 2602353
Shares are of the Medicaid prescriptions shown here. Product grouping follows RxNorm (the National Library of Medicine’s drug terminology), so “one product” means one strength & dosage form regardless of manufacturer. Dollar figures are gross Medicaid reimbursement before mandatory rebates — rebates (often large, especially for brand-name drugs) are confidential, so actual net cost to Medicaid is lower than shown.
Source: Medicaid State Drug Utilization Data (CMS), aggregated by generic ingredient — summed across every NDC (all brands, strengths, salt forms and dosage forms) of Ranibizumab Injection, and across all states and both fee-for-service and managed-care claims. A general popularity signal; it excludes Medicare, commercial insurance and cash prescriptions, so it is not total U.S. use. Based on the 7 of 13 listed Ranibizumab Injection NDCs with Medicaid activity.
🔍 Compare Ranibizumab Injection products
A representative set of FDA-listed product records for Ranibizumab Injection — across manufacturers, strengths, and dosage forms, grouped by form with each product’s manufacturer and how the FDA approved it. The same medicine may be made and packaged by different companies, so a single drug can have many directory entries. (It’s also why a refill can look different — a new shape, color, or box — even though it contains the same medication.)
| Strength | Route | Manufacturer / Labeler | Category ⓘ | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 💊Injection | ||||
| 6 mg/mL | — | Frueh Verpackungstechnik AG | DRUG FOR FURTHER PROCESSING | View NDC → |
| 10 mg/mL | — | Frueh Verpackungstechnik AG | DRUG FOR FURTHER PROCESSING | View NDC → |
| 6 mg/mL | Intravitreal | Genentech, Inc. × 3 listings | BLA | View NDC → |
| 10 mg/mL | Intravitreal | Genentech, Inc. × 3 listings | BLA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravitreal | Genentech, Inc. × 2 listings | BLA | View NDC → |
| 6 mg/mL | — | Labor Zollinger AG | DRUG FOR FURTHER PROCESSING | View NDC → |
| 10 mg/mL | — | Labor Zollinger AG | DRUG FOR FURTHER PROCESSING | View NDC → |
| 10 mg/mL | — | Patheon Italia S.p.A. | DRUG FOR FURTHER PROCESSING | View NDC → |
Showing 13 of 13 products — FDA National Drug Code Directory. See every product, package size and price: browse all 13 Ranibizumab Injection NDCs →
📈 What people report — real-world data (FDA FAERS)
After a medicine reaches the market, patients, doctors and drugmakers can send the FDA reports of problems they think may be linked to it. Here’s what’s been reported for Ranibizumab Injection — a signal of what to watch for, not proof the drug caused it.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). These are voluntary reports — they don’t prove the drug caused the effect, and counts reflect how often something was reported, not how often it actually happens. Reports also often name the very problem the medicine is taken for — a common reason to file one is that the drug didn’t help — so for a pain reliever you may see “pain” high on the list; that points to why the report was filed, not to the drug causing the symptom. This counts every report that lists Ranibizumab Injection in any role, so the total runs higher than the FDA’s official dashboard, which counts only cases where the drug is the suspect. For the authoritative figures, see the FDA FAERS Public Dashboard. Always talk to your pharmacist or doctor.
🏛️ The road to your pharmacy
How Ranibizumab Injection went from FDA review to the pharmacy shelf — the key milestones in its regulatory journey.
Source: Drugs@FDA.
🚨 Recall history
A recall is when a specific batch of a medicine is pulled from the market — usually a manufacturing issue, not a problem with the drug itself. Class I is most serious, Class III least.
Source: openFDA drug enforcement (recall) reports.
RxNorm Concept Web — From Ingredient to Every Form and Strength
This page starts with one ingredient concept (IN). The branches below show its dose-form concepts (SCDF), then the available clinical drug and strength concepts (SCD). Combination products remain separate concepts with their own pages.
RxCUI 595060 2 dose forms · 10 strengths
-
Dose form (SCDF) Injection RxCUI 1724210In current FDA listingsClinical drug / strength (SCD) 0.05 ML ranibizumab 10 MG/MLRxCUI 6431930.05 ML ranibizumab 6 MG/MLRxCUI 13060740.05 ML ranibizumab-eqrn 10 MG/MLRxCUI 26126840.05 ML ranibizumab-eqrn 6 MG/MLRxCUI 26126750.05 ML ranibizumab-leyk 10 MG/MLRxCUI 27448870.05 ML ranibizumab-leyk 6 MG/MLRxCUI 27448970.05 ML ranibizumab-nuna 10 MG/MLRxCUI 26023530.1 ML ranibizumab 100 MG/MLRxCUI 2584857 -
Dose form (SCDF) Prefilled Syringe RxCUI 1864422No current FDA listingClinical drug / strength (SCD) 0.05 ML ranibizumab 10 MG/MLRxCUI 18644230.05 ML ranibizumab 6 MG/MLRxCUI 2045501
Look up RxCUI 595060 in the RxCUI Atlas →
RxNorm is the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s normalized drug vocabulary. Its concept hierarchy can include forms that are not currently marketed; the status on each branch compares that concept with current FDA listings. RxCUIs identify vocabulary concepts, not individual packages or manufacturers.
📦 Supply & shortage status
Whether Ranibizumab Injection is in short supply in the U.S. right now, plus any shortage history the FDA has on record. A shortage usually reflects a manufacturing or demand issue — not a safety problem with the drug.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Drug Shortages database.
🏷️ Sold under these brand names
🏭 Manufacturers & labelers
RxNorm drug class
Ranibizumab Injection belongs to the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Inhibitor class.
Classified by RxNorm RxClass — the U.S. National Library of Medicine's standardized drug-classification service (Established Pharmacologic Class from the FDA, the ATC drug family from the WHO, and mechanism of action). Reference only, not medical advice.
🔬 Where this comes from
Core label, product, RxNorm, safety, and utilization data on this page come from the sources identified below. AI-written, editorial, and licensed sections are labeled separately.
How we combine label and product data
HelloPharmacist combines public FDA and NLM records; we don’t author the underlying clinical facts. We identified 2 FDA-filed SPL label sets within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. The representative label is the starting point for the displayed reference monograph; the 12 largest stored in-scope SPL records, which may include that representative, are compared section by section, and the longest available version of each section is retained. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, product-listed strengths, and product-record counts are aggregated separately from ingredient-matched FDA NDC Directory records; package records listed above are associated with the linked SPL; and the normalized concept hierarchy comes from NLM RxNorm.
Where a section is identified as AI-written, its plain-language text is generated from bounded label evidence. New draft drug pages remain in the admin review queue before first publication. Genentech, Inc. is the representative DailyMed label linked for verification and dates; it is not the sole source used for the page.
This is general education, not medical advice — always consult your doctor or pharmacist about your medications and any medical condition. For the exact wording of the linked representative label, view that label on DailyMed; some displayed composite sections may come from other in-scope SPL labels. Learn how we use AI and our data sources & update cadence.