Glasses, atropine, red light show potential for myopia control
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Research into effective treatments for myopic progression expands beyond contact lenses and involves atropine, red light therapy and spectacle lenses, as Healio has reported throughout 2023.
Read on to learn about clinical studies and FDA activity in this area.
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FDA accepts NDA for low-dose atropine eye drop to treat pediatric myopia
Vyluma Inc. has announced that the FDA will review its new drug application for NVK002, a preservative-free, low-dose atropine eye drop for myopia in children aged 3 to 17 years.
“FDA acceptance of our NDA is a major milestone for Vyluma and brings us one step closer to advancing NVK002 as a new, first-in-class treatment option for children with myopia,” Navneet Puri, PhD, founder and chairman of Vyluma, said in a company press release. “NVK002 has been thoroughly tested clinically and adheres to the high-quality standards required of a pharmaceutically manufactured product. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with FDA on the review of this important new treatment.” Read more.
Low-level red-light therapy controls myopia progression in children
Low-level red-light therapy at varied powers effectively controlled and reduced myopia progression in children, according to a study published in Ophthalmology.
“Red light, a short wavelength visible light of 600 nm to 700 nm, has been used to treat various diseases, such as promoting cell synthesis, wound healing, hair growth, fracture healing and regeneration of damaged nerves,” Wen Zhou, MM, from The First People’s Hospital of Xuzhou, and colleagues wrote. “Recent studies have found that low-level red-light exposure induces hyperopia and slows myopia progression.” Read more.
Essilor Stellest spectacle lenses slow myopia, axial length progression in children
EssilorLuxottica’s Essilor Stellest lenses slowed myopia progression and axial length increase in children in a 4-year clinical trial, according to data presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting.
Children who wore spectacles with highly aspherical lenslets (HAL) saved more than 1.25 D of myopia over 4 years in the trial, which began in 2018 at the Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University in China, according to a company press release. HAL lenses served as the optical design inspiration for the Essilor Stellest lenses. Read more.
Atropine drops fail to slow myopia in US children, study says
Two years of nightly atropine eye drops did not slow myopia progression or axial elongation in a cohort of U.S. children compared with placebo, according to a randomized clinical trial.
The results contradict those of previous studies in Asian ethnicities and call for further studies evaluating genetic factors, higher atropine doses and a host of other variables, Michael X. Repka, MD, MBA, vice chair for clinical practice at Wilmer Eye Institute and professor of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins University, and colleagues wrote in JAMA Ophthalmology. Read more.
SightGlass Vision reports successful myopia control in children using DOT spectacle lenses
SightGlass Vision has announced positive results from its 4-year CYPRESS study, which tested myopia control performance of the company’s Diffusion Optics Technology spectacle lenses.
According to a company press release, the DOT 0.2 lenses use thousands of light-scattering elements called dots, which are designed to mimic more natural contrast on the retina and slow myopia progression in children. Read more.
Novel spectacle lens effectively reduces myopia progression in children
The novel Shamir Myopia Control spectacles slowed progression of axial length and spherical equivalent refraction in children, especially those younger than 10 years, compared with single-vision spectacle lenses, according to research.
“The goal of our study is to evaluate these newly designed spectacle lenses produced by Shamir and compare their effect with [single-vision spectacle lenses] in slowing down the progression of myopia and axial elongation, as well as in visual comfort and compliance in children,” researchers in Israel wrote in the American Journal of Ophthalmology. Read more.