In the UK, Eylea 8 mg is sold as Eylea 114.3 mg/ml. “Eylea HD” is its name in the United States. Treatment starts with one injection a month for three months. The gap can then be extended to up to every 4 months, and later up to 6 months. In its main trial, vision results were not worse than with the 2 mg dose given every 8 weeks.
At a glance
- Licensed for adults with wet AMD, diabetic macular oedema, or macular oedema after a retinal vein occlusion.
- Common side effects (up to 1 in 10 people) include cataract, raised pressure in the eye, floaters and eye pain.
- Rare side effects (up to 1 in 1,000 people) include serious infection inside the eye, and blindness.
- NHS: on NHS England's list of medicines for wet AMD, as a second choice.
- Private: Sapphire Eye Care lists a wet AMD Eylea consultation and injection package from £2,405.
What is Eylea 8 mg?
Aflibercept is an anti-VEGF medicine. It is injected into the eye to treat conditions that affect the macula, the central part of the retina that gives clear vision.
The standard dose is 2 mg. The newer form gives 8 mg in each injection of 0.07 ml. Its UK name is Eylea 114.3 mg/ml, made by Bayer. The vial was first licensed in the UK on 19 January 2024.
“Eylea HD” is the name on the United States licence. The UK product information does not use it.
Who is it for?
It is licensed for adults. The patient leaflet says you must not be given it if you are allergic to any ingredient, have an infection in or around the eye, or have severe inflammation in the eye.
Tell the eye doctor before treatment if you:
- have glaucoma
- have seen flashes of light or floaters that suddenly became bigger or more numerous
- had eye surgery in the last 4 weeks, or have eye surgery planned in the next 4 weeks
- had a stroke, a mini-stroke or a heart attack in the last 6 months
- are pregnant, could become pregnant, or are breast-feeding
Women who could become pregnant have to use effective contraception during treatment and for at least 4 months after the last injection.
New symptoms and no diagnosis yet? The NHS says to get an urgent opticians appointment, or help from NHS 111, if your vision gets suddenly worse, you have a dark curtain or shadow moving across your vision, or your eye is red and painful.
The dosing schedule
The same schedule in words:
- Month 0 First injection.
- Month 1 Second injection.
- Month 2 Third injection.
- After the first three The gap can be extended to up to every 4 months, if vision and scans are stable.
- Later The gap can be extended further, up to 6 months.
- If the eye gets worse The gap is shortened again. The shortest gap allowed is 1 month.
How the injection is given
The NHS lists injections of anti-VEGF medicine as a treatment for wet AMD. NICE says they should be given by a suitably trained healthcare professional. That can be an eye doctor, or a nurse practitioner, optometrist or technician with experience of eye injections.
- The eye is cleaned with a disinfectant eyewash to prevent infection.
- Anaesthetic drops numb the eye.
- You are asked to look away. A very small needle goes through the white of the eye.
- The injection itself takes a few seconds.
- Straight afterwards, the eye is checked for a rise in pressure.
After the injection
The NHS decision aid for wet AMD gives this advice:
- Your vision can be blurred for up to six hours. You must not drive for the rest of the day.
- The eye can feel gritty, uncomfortable or watery, and the white of the eye may be red, for a few days.
- Do not rub the eye in the first few hours. It is still numb.
- Avoid swimming, and getting water, soap or shampoo in the eye, for 48 hours.
Tell your eye doctor immediately if you develop redness of the eye, eye pain, increasing discomfort, blurred or reduced vision, or increased sensitivity to light. The patient leaflet says these may be signs of inflammation or infection.
Side effects and how common they are
The patient leaflet groups side effects by how often they happen. Most affect the eye.
| How common | Side effects |
|---|---|
| Common up to 1 in 10 people |
Cataract, raised pressure inside the eye, floaters, the jelly inside the eye coming away from the retina, reduced sharpness of vision, eye pain, bleeding in or on the eye, allergic reactions |
| Uncommon up to 1 in 100 people |
A detached or torn retina, inflammation inside the eye, blurred vision, pain or bleeding where the needle went in, a red or watery eye, a swollen eyelid |
| Rare up to 1 in 1,000 people |
Blindness, serious inflammation or infection inside the eye (endophthalmitis), inflammation of the blood vessels at the back of the eye |
In the studies behind the UK licence, the side effects reported most often were cataract (7.1%), reduced sharpness of vision (4.3%), bleeding on the surface of the eye (4.0%) and raised pressure in the eye (3.8%). Pressure can rise for a short time within 60 minutes of an injection, which is why it is checked.
Medicines of this type carry a theoretical risk of blood clots, which can cause a stroke or a heart attack. The licence says the rate seen in the aflibercept eye studies was low.
How well it works
The main trial, PULSAR, treated 1,009 adults who had not had treatment before. After three monthly injections they were given 8 mg every 12 weeks, 8 mg every 16 weeks, or 2 mg every 8 weeks. The makers, Bayer and Regeneron, paid for the trial.
| After 48 weeks | 8 mg every 12 weeks | 8 mg every 16 weeks | 2 mg every 8 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average gain in vision (letters on the eye chart) | 6.7 | 6.2 | 7.6 |
| Average number of injections | 6.1 | 5.2 | 6.9 |
| Stayed on the planned gap | 79.4% | 76.6% | not measured |
The vision results with 8 mg were judged not worse than with 2 mg. They were not better. After 96 weeks, 71.0% of people on 8 mg had reached a gap of 16 weeks or more, and 27.8% a gap of 24 weeks.
PULSAR did not study people who switch from another medicine. Figures: UK licence and published trial report.
Other injections for wet AMD
NICE says the trials it looked at showed no clinically significant differences in effectiveness and safety between anti-VEGF medicines.
NHS England's commissioning recommendations, published in March 2026, rank the medicines for wet AMD:
- First choice: ranibizumab biosimilar, or aflibercept 2 mg biosimilar
- Second choice: aflibercept 8 mg, or faricimab
- Third choice: bevacizumab, or brolucizumab
A biosimilar is a copy of a medicine made by another company. NHS England says its modelling showed no significant difference in the number of injections between treatments when the response is good.
Cost and NHS availability
NHS. NICE has not appraised the 8 mg dose. It decided in January 2023 that it was clinically equivalent to the 2 mg dose NICE already recommends, and that it should be considered for routine commissioning. NICE also says people with suspected wet AMD should normally be referred within 1 working day, and that treatment should be offered within 14 days of referral.
Private. Sapphire Eye Care lists a wet AMD Eylea consultation and injection package from £2,405. Its price list does not state the dose, so ask whether a quote is for 2 mg or 8 mg, and what each later injection costs. Payment terms are set by each clinic, so ask for them in writing before you book.
Want to ask a clinic about wet AMD injections? Send one enquiry form. If a partner clinic covers your area and treatment, it contacts you to arrange a consultation.
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Sources
Every clinical statement on this page comes from the sources below. They were read on 27 September 2026.
- Eylea 114.3 mg/ml pre-filled syringe: Summary of Product Characteristics, Bayer plc, on the electronic medicines compendium — licensed uses, dose, schedule, warnings, side-effect rates, PULSAR results
- Eylea 114.3 mg/ml vial: Summary of Product Characteristics, Bayer plc, on the electronic medicines compendium — date first licensed in the UK
- Eylea 114.3 mg/ml pre-filled syringe: patient information leaflet, Bayer plc, on the electronic medicines compendium — who must not have it, what to tell your doctor, side effects by frequency
- Age-related macular degeneration, guideline NG82: recommendations, NICE — referral and treatment times, who gives the injection, comparison of medicines
- High-dose aflibercept for treating wet age-related macular degeneration: topic prioritisation, NICE — why NICE did not appraise the 8 mg dose
- Commissioning recommendations for medical retinal vascular medicines, NHS England — order of choice of medicines for wet AMD
- Making a decision about wet age-related macular degeneration (decision aid), NHS England — the day of the injection and afterwards
- Age-related macular degeneration: symptoms, NHS — when to get urgent help
- Age-related macular degeneration: treatment, NHS — treatments for wet AMD
- Lanzetta P and others. Intravitreal aflibercept 8 mg in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (PULSAR). Lancet 2024;403:1141-1152, PubMed record 38461841 — number of patients, design and funding of the trial
- Drugs@FDA: licence 761355, Eylea HD, United States Food and Drug Administration — the United States product name only
- Our prices, Sapphire Eye Care — the partner clinic's published price
About this page
Written by the Eye Surgery Clinic editorial team from the sources listed above. We do not provide treatment: Eye Surgery Clinic is an independent information and introduction service, and treatment is provided by partner clinics. This page is general information and cannot replace advice from a clinician who has examined you.
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