Comparisons of anti-VEGFs raise interest at French meeting

PARIS — As 1-year results of the Comparison of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Treatment Trials raised animated discussion outside sessions at the meeting of the French Society of Ophthalmology, two smaller, unaffiliated studies presented here found that an as-needed regimen might play a role in favor of bevacizumab concerning the number of injections.

"In 40 patients divided in two groups and treated with either bevacizumab or ranibizumab between 2007 and 2010, following a PRN regimen, we achieved comparable [optical coherence tomography] and visual acuity results at the 12 months' endpoint. The mean number of injections was 4.5 for the bevacizumab group and 5.6 for the ranibizumab group," Flore De Bats, MD, said.

In a separate presentation, Isabelle Aknin, MD, reviewed results of two groups of 44 and 50 patients treated with Avastin (bevacizumab, Genentech) and Lucentis (ranibizumab, Genentech), respectively, for 2 years. Mean number of injections was six in the bevacizumab group and 10 in the ranibizumab group.

Dr. Aknin found that each drug had advantages in different situations, such as different forms of AMD and higher or lower baseline visual acuity, and at different time intervals.

In an interview with OCULAR SURGERY NEWS, retina specialist Gabriel Coscas, MD, said that results of these studies and the larger CATT must be carefully considered.

"However interesting, these results remain anecdotal, and since only ranibizumab has gone through a proper validation process and is provided in France under NHS coverage, this is the only drug we should use today," Dr. Coscas said.

Disclosures: Dr. Coscas is a consultant for Novartis. Dr. Aknin and Dr. De Bats have no direct financial interest in the products discussed in this article, nor are they paid consultants for any companies mentioned.