Quarterly anti-VEGF dosing for AMD improves vision in some patients

HONOLULU — A subset of patients receiving anti-VEGF treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration respond to treatment with less-than-monthly dosing, according to a poster presented here at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting.

David A. Eichenbaum, MD, and colleagues compiled data from a group of studies that looked at dosing frequency of Lucentis (ranibizumab, Genentech) or Eylea (aflibercept, Regeneron) for these patients and concluded that half of them maintained or gained vision when dosed every 12 weeks (quarterly).

Studies included PIER, EXCITE, CABERNET, VIEW and HARBOR. The percentage of patients who maintained or gained vision on quarterly dosing of 0.5 mg ranibizumab across the trials was 54%, 42%, 71%, 43% and 30%, respectively.

The greatest gain at the end of trial was seen in the HARBOR trial, in which 9.6 letters were gained after treatment with 0.5 mg ranibizumab. The smallest gain was seen in the PIER trial, wherein pure quarterly dosing was performed with no rescue injections.

“Rescue treatment and frequent monitoring are necessary to identify and treat patients who need more frequent dosing,” the authors wrote. – by Patricia Nale, ELS

Reference:

Eichenbaum DA, et al. Quarterly anti-VEGF dosing for the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration: a cross-trial comparison. Presented at: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology annual meeting; April 28-May 3, 2018; Honolulu.

Disclosure: Eichenbaum reports he is a consultant for Genentech and Regeneron.