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Wet AMD treatment demonstrating strong results at 2 years
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TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — A phase 3 study of the efficacy of Eylea injections to treat neovascular AMD has shown sustained improvement in visual acuity at 96 weeks, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Bayer Healthcare announced in a press release.
In the first year of the parallel VIEW 1 and VIEW 2 studies, patients received Eylea (aflibercept, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals) injections of either 0.5 mg every 4 weeks, 2 mg every 4 weeks or 2 mg every 8 weeks after three initial monthly injections, compared with injections of 0.5 mg ranibizumab every 4 weeks, the release said.
In the second year, patients continued the same dosing regimen and were evaluated each month to determine the need for re-treatment. Minimum treatment frequency for all patients was 12 weeks.
At 96 weeks, the visual acuity gain for the group receiving aflibercept every 8 weeks was 7.6 letters from baseline, compared with 8.4 letters at week 52, the release said. Those patients received an average of 11.2 injections over 2 years, with an average of 4.2 injections in the second year.
Patients receiving ranibizumab saw a gain of 7.9 letters, compared with 8.7 letters at week 52, according to the release. Those patients received an average of 16.5 injections over 2 years, with a mean 4.7 injections in the second year.
"These second-year results confirm the sustainability of the vision gains achieved by Eylea with a less-than-monthly dosing frequency," George D. Yancopoulos, MD, PhD, chief scientific officer of Regeneron and president of Regeneron Laboratories, said in the release. "Importantly, the second-year data demonstrated that for patients that needed more anti-VEGF treatment, this was achieved with fewer injections using Eylea."