Bimatoprost implant reduces IOP in glaucoma
LAS VEGAS — Patients with glaucoma showed high response rates after receiving a bimatoprost implant to reduce IOP, according to research presented at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting.
E. Randy Craven, MD, said reliance on multiple topical medications remains an unmet need in the treatment of glaucoma.
“We all know that topical therapy kind of runs out of steam, if you will,” he said. “The bimatoprost implant was developed to try to help target that, giving patients therapy so we didn’t need to worry about non-usage.”
Researchers assessed the bimatoprost implant (Allergan) in two parallel-group, noninferiority studies, comparing it with twice-daily timolol in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.
The primary endpoint was IOP lowering through 12 weeks. Investigators also assessed the proportion of patients who achieved at least 20%, 30% and 40% reductions in IOP lowering at 2 weeks, 6 weeks and 12 weeks after each administration, as well as response rates in subgroups of patients who had previously been treated with zero, one or two topical medications.
The implant achieved noninferiority in both studies, producing lower IOP through the 12-week primary efficacy period.
Craven and colleagues found that the proportion of patients who achieved at least 20% reduction in IOP was 67.8%, 70.6% and 77.3% among patients who received the 10 µg implant and had a history of zero, one or at least two topical medications, respectively. The corresponding rates among patients who received timolol were 62.3%, 71.4%, and 72.4%, respectively.
“We found that most patients required no additional IOP treatment after a third administration, which is encouraging for what we might see in the future,” Craven said.
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Craven ER, et al. Bimatoprost implant for IOP lowering: Responder rates overall and in subgroups by previous medication count in the phase 3 ARTEMIS studies. Presented at: American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting; July 23-27, 2021; Las Vegas.
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