Aflibercept: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Aflibercept is a medicine sold in the U.S. under one brand, for diabetic retinopathy and macular edema. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Treats
- Diabetic Retinopathy and Macular Edema
- Available as
- Injectable
- Sold as
- Eylea Hd
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Not in our catalog
How aflibercept is dosed
From the FDA label for Eylea Hd (application BLA761355). Other aflibercept products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
Neovascular (Wet) Age-Related Macular Degeneration (nAMD) The recommended dose for EYLEA HD is 8 mg (0.07 mL of 114.3 mg/mL solution) administered by intravitreal injection every 4 weeks (approximately every 28 days +/- 7 days) for the first three doses, followed by 8 mg (0.07 mL of 114.3 mg/mL solution) via intravitreal injection once every 8 to 16 weeks, +/- 1 week. ( 2.2 ) Some patients did not maintain a response with 8 mg once every 8 to 16 weeks, +/- 1 week, after successful response to the three initial monthly doses. These patients may benefit from resuming every 4-week dosing (approximately every 28 days +/- 7 days). ( 2.2 ) Extended dosing intervals (8 mg once every 20 weeks, +/- 1 week) may be considered after one year of successful response based on visual and anatomic outcomes. ( 2.2 ). Diabetic Macular Edema (DME) The recommended dose for EYLEA HD is 8 mg (0.07 mL of 114.3 mg/mL solution) administered by intravitreal injection every 4 weeks (approximately every 28 days +/- 7 days) for the first three doses, followed by 8 mg (0.07 mL of 114.3 mg/mL solution) via intravitreal injection once every 8 to 16 weeks, +/- 1 week. ( 2.3 ) Some patients did not maintain a response with 8 mg once every 8 to 16 weeks, +/- 1 week, after successful response to the three initial monthly doses. These patients may benefit from resuming every 4-week dosing (approximately every 28…
Aflibercept side effects
The following potentially serious adverse reactions are described elsewhere in the labeling: Hypersensitivity [see Contraindications (4.3) ] Endophthalmitis, Retinal Detachments, and Retinal Vasculitis with or without Occlusion [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) ] Increase in intraocular pressure [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2) ] Thromboembolic events [see Warnings and Precautions (5.3) ] The most common adverse reactions (≥3%) reported in patients treated with EYLEA HD were cataract, conjunctival hemorrhage, corneal epithelium defect, intraocular pressure increased, ocular discomfort/eye pain/eye irritation, retinal hemorrhage, vision blurred, vitreous detachment, and vitreous floaters. ( 6.1 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Regeneron at 1-855-395-3248 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch . 6.1 Clinical Trials Experience Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in other clinical trials of the same or another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice. A total of 1755 patients were treated with EYLEA HD and 804 patients were treated with EYLEA 2 mg in three clinical studies. The most common adverse reactions reported in ≥3% of patients treated with EYLEA HD were cataract, conjunctival hemorrhage,…
Who shouldn’t take aflibercept
Ocular or periocular infection ( 4.1 ) Active intraocular inflammation ( 4.2 ) Hypersensitivity ( 4.3 ) 4.1 Ocular or Periocular Infections EYLEA HD is contraindicated in patients with ocular or periocular infections. 4.2 Active Intraocular Inflammation EYLEA HD is contraindicated in patients with active intraocular inflammation. 4.3 Hypersensitivity EYLEA HD is contraindicated in patients with known hypersensitivity to aflibercept or any of the excipients in EYLEA HD. Hypersensitivity reactions may manifest as rash, pruritus, urticaria, severe anaphylactic/anaphylactoid reactions, or severe intraocular inflammation.
Every aflibercept product we track (1)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
Only one: Eylea Hd.
How long aflibercept keeps
No aflibercept label we read sets a separate limit for after opening, but they do specify how it must be stored — and the stability behind any date assumes those conditions.
Does aflibercept expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labelsAflibercept and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for aflibercept: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadThis record refers to the use of intravitreal aflibercept. Aflibercept inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Aflibercept is a large protein molecule with a molecular weight of 115,000 Daltons. Aflibercept appeared in breastmilk in small amounts in only one of four days after intravitreal injection in one mother. Absorption by the infant is unlikely because it is probably partly destroyed in the infant's gastrointestinal tract and poorly absorbed orally, so systemic effects in infants are not expected. Aflibercept is approved for intravitreal injection in preterm infants with retinopathy of prematurity. The risk to nursing infants appears to be low. Since VEGF is present in human milk and is thought to help in maturation of the infant’s gastrointestinal tract, concern has been raised about the maternal use of VEGF inhibitors during breastfeeding. However, the typical alternative to breastmilk is infant formula, which contains no VEGF. Some sources consider ranibizumab to be preferable to aflibercept in nursing mothers because of its lower systemic exposure after intravitreal injection.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised November 15, 2025. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about aflibercept
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 4,003 reports naming aflibercept, and the FDA flagged 95% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- diarrhoea397 reports
- hypertension219 reports
- neutropenia217 reports
- visual acuity reduced190 reports
- asthenia162 reports
- endophthalmitis138 reports
- fatigue128 reports
- nausea126 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean aflibercept caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label section above.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved July 25, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
What is aflibercept?
Eylea Hd (Aflibercept) is a medication used to treat Diabetic Retinopathy, Macular Edema.
Can you take aflibercept with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run aflibercept against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What forms does aflibercept come in?
Across the brands we track, aflibercept is currently marketed as injectable, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic aflibercept?
We do not currently list a generic-labelled aflibercept product. That does not always mean none exists — it means none appears under a generic name in the FDA data we track. Ask your pharmacist.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Aflibercept: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/aflibercept
- MLA
- “Aflibercept: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/aflibercept.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for aflibercept on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.