Ranibizumab showed improved VA with 5, 6 doses over 1 year

MIAMI — A drug under investigation for the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration improved vision in patients at the 1 year follow-up, after a dosing regimen of five to six treatments, according to a study.

Philip J. Rosenfeld, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, discussed 1-year results of Lucentis (ranibizumab, Genentech) from the PrONTO study (Prospective Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging of Patients with Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration Treated with Intraocular Lucentis), a prospective, open-label, uncontrolled study. The average patient received five to six injections over the course of 1 year, the group said in a news release.

After 1 year, the “average vision improved in the treated eye almost 2 lines after 1 year,” the release said. Of the 40 patients enrolled in the study, “82% had the same or better vision after 1 year and 35% experienced a twofold improvement in vision as defined by gaining 3 lines of vision on a standardized visual acuity chart,” the researchers said.

“In addition to the improved vision, Lucentis appears to have caused a reduction in leakage from the abnormal blood vessels, and we observed a restoration of normal macular anatomy in this study,” Dr. Rosenfeld said.

Using OCT, the researchers noted vision improvement within 2 weeks, an improvement in macular anatomy within the first day and continued improvement in “most patients” over the first 3 months of the study.

Patient dosing was variable within the study timeframe, with some patients needing only one dose and others as many as six injections, the researchers said.

Other results from this study were released in March. Dr. Rosenfeld said the study is ongoing through 2 years.