Timolol microdrops appear as effective as conventional drops in lowering IOP
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Key takeaways:
- Microdrops of timolol were noninferior to conventional timolol drops in lowering IOP at three timepoints.
- The decrease in resting heart rate was less in the microdrop group.
Timolol maleate 0.5% microdrops delivered with the Nanodropper Adaptor met three noninferiority endpoints in lowering IOP compared with conventional timolol drops, according to a study.
“We anticipate the Nanodropper system with timolol will revolutionize glaucoma treatment by offering a more efficient, cost-effective and safer delivery method,” Jennifer S. Steger, PhD, lead author of the study published in Ophthalmology, told Healio. “This innovation has the potential to streamline patient care and improve outcomes in glaucoma management.”
The prospective, noninferiority, parallel, multicenter, single-masked, active-controlled, randomized trial included 419 treatment-naive subjects with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension at Aravind Eye Care System in India; 212 subjects were randomly assigned to treatment with 12.5 µL microdrops of timolol administered with the Nanodropper Adaptor while 207 subjects received conventional 28 µL drops of timolol.
Subjects had corrected Snellen visual acuity of 6/60 or better in each eye and baseline IOP between 21 mm Hg and 45 mm Hg.
The primary outcome measure was IOP, with secondary outcomes of resting heart rate and blood pressure, all measured at 1, 2, 5 and 8 hours after timolol administration.
Both treatments significantly decreased IOP at all timepoints relative to baseline, with the microdrop group meeting noninferiority criteria at all time points except for hour 5. At hour 5, the mean IOP decreases from baseline were 30.91% in the conventional drop group and 27.97% in the microdrop group.
Significant and transient decreases in resting blood pressure were observed with both treatments, with no between-group differences observed. There was a statistically significant decrease in resting heart rate at all timepoints in both groups, but the decrease in the microdrop group was significantly less than the decrease in the conventional drop group.
“The key takeaway for glaucoma specialists is that our study demonstrates the Nanodropper Adaptor’s microdrops deliver timolol with comparable efficacy to conventional drops, potentially enhancing patient safety by reducing medication waste and minimizing systemic effects,” Steger said. “Given these promising results, our next steps involve further optimizing the Nanodropper system and expanding its availability to reach more patients globally.”
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