Meeting roundup: Top AMD items from 2021 conferences
Novel therapies for patients with age-related macular degeneration as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on treatment for this population were popular topics at ophthalmology meetings in 2021.
The Healio editors have compiled some of the most popular AMD items to emerge from meetings during this past year.
New therapies for AMD
A number of new therapies are currently being explored for treatment of wet AMD.
For instance, at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting, a presenter reviewed findings from a phase 1 study of OTX-TKI (Ocular Therapeutix), a hydrogel-based implant in development for sustained-release delivery of axitinib, showing that the treatment was well tolerated in patients with neovascular AMD.
Additionally, data from the phase 2b ALTISSIMO trial, presented at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting, demonstrated that sustained delivery of the pan-VEGF inhibitor GB-102 (sunitinib malate, Graybug Vision) may reduce treatment burden in wet AMD.
ONS-5010, an ophthalmic formulation of bevacizumab (Outlook Therapeutics), also performed well in the pivotal phase 3 NORSE TWO superiority trial, according to a presentation at the AAO meeting. Safety and efficacy results were both positive in patients with wet AMD.
Topline results from the phase 1 DAVIO study, which evaluated EYP-1901 (Durasert sustained-release technology with vorolanib, EyePoint Pharmaceuticals) for treatment of wet AMD, were presented at the Eyecelerator meeting. The efficacy data were positive, and there were no serious systemic or ocular side effects at 6 months.
Many studies in the past year focused on treatment of wet AMD, but one phase 2a study presented at the AAO meeting showed that treatment with risuteganib (Allegro Ophthalmics) resulted in improvement in visual acuity in patients with dry AMD.
Potential of gene therapy
Gene therapy for AMD was a hot topic as well. In a video interview with Healio, Rishi P. Singh, MD, staff surgeon at Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic, provided an overview of presentations on gene therapy from the American Society of Retina Specialists meeting, including those on emerging research in suprachoroidal delivery for gene therapy and intravitreal gene therapy.
In another video interview with Healio, Nancy M. Holekamp, MD, director of retina services at Pepose Vision Institute in St. Louis, discussed results from a study on suprachoroidal delivery of Regenxbio’s gene therapy RGX-314 for neovascular AMD that were also presented at the ASRS meeting. Holekamp said suprachoroidal injection “brings gene therapy into the office setting, which is an extremely exciting prospect for treating wet AMD patients in this fashion.”
COVID-19 and AMD care
As in many other areas of health care, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were felt by patients with AMD.
For example, one study presented at the ARVO meeting showed that lockdown as part of the United Kingdom’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic led to delayed treatment and worse outcomes in patients with neovascular AMD.
Similarly, data from the “Fight Retinal Blindness!” study, presented at the AAO meeting, indicated that patients with wet AMD who missed more injections during the COVID-19 pandemic generally had worse visual outcomes.