Combination of squalamine, ranibizumab improves BCVA in eyes with retinal vein occlusion

Issue: January 25, 2017

Patients with macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion who received a combination of squalamine and ranibizumab had a better improvement in best corrected visual acuity than patients who received ranibizumab alone, according to a study.

The single-center, open-label, randomized trial included 20 eyes of 20 consecutive patients; nine eyes had nonischemic central retinal vein occlusion, eight eyes had branch retinal vein occlusion, and three eyes had hemicentral retinal vein occlusion.

Study eyes received a combination of topical squalamine (OHR-102, Ohr Pharmaceuticals) and intravitreal Lucentis 0.5 mg (ranibizumab, Genentech) for 10 weeks and then were randomized to continue or discontinue squalamine. Thirteen treatment-naïve control eyes from previous studies received ranibizumab 0.5 mg at baseline and then monthly for 6 or 7 months.

At baseline, the mean best corrected visual acuity was 55.6 ETDRS letters in the squalamine group and 55 ETDRS letters in the control group. Patients in the combination group had a mean improvement of 25.6 letters at 38 weeks, compared with a mean improvement of 16.3 letters in the control group at 9 months.

“Eyes that were randomized to continue squalamine recovered more vision (7.2 letters) and had thinner final [central subfield thickness] measurements (264 µm) between weeks 10 and 38 than did eyes that were randomized to discontinue squalamine (3.1 letters and 283 µm, respectively),” the researchers wrote. - by Robert Linnehan

Disclosure: Wroblewski reports he is a consultant and scientific advisory board member for Allergan and Ohr Pharmaceuticals and serves as a speaker for and owns stock in Ohr Pharmaceuticals. Please see the full study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.

Published by:

Sources/Disclosures

Collapse

Source:

Wroblewski JJ, et al. Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2016;doi:10.3928/23258160-20161004-04.