Cyclosporine 0.09% improved dry eye signs in patients previously treated with 0.05%
Key takeaways:
- Switching to cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion 0.09% significantly improved signs of dry eye disease.
- Improvements were seen in patients with and without meibomian gland dysfunction.
Twice-daily cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion 0.09% significantly improved signs of dry eye disease in patients who were inadequately controlled with cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion 0.05%, according to a study presented at SECO 2025.
Patients with dry eye disease (DED) frequently change therapies due to inadequately controlled disease, lead study author Josh Johnston, OD, FAAO, of Georgia Eye Partners, Atlanta, told Healio.
“This 12-week, open-label, phase 4 switch study assessed the efficacy and safety of twice-daily cyclosporine ophthalmic solution 0.09% (CsA 0.09%; Cequa, Sun Pharmaceutical) in patients with inadequately controlled DED who were receiving cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion 0.05% (CsA 0.05%; Restasis, AbbVie) at baseline,” Johnston said.
Patients both with and without meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) had been taking CsA 0.05% for at least 3 months, according to the study, before receiving twice-daily CsA 0.09% for 12 weeks. Changes in corneal fluorescein staining (CFS) and lissamine green conjunctival staining (CS) were evaluated. Thirty of the 124 patients in the intent-to-treat populations reported MGD at baseline.
Results showed significantly improved mean total CFS and lissamine green CS scores in patients with MGD at week 4 (P < .05), week 8 (P < .001) and week 12 (P < .0001) and in patients without MGD at all time points (P < .0001).
Of the 134 patients in the safety population, 58 (43.3%) reported at least one treatment-emergent adverse effect, with 73.8% of them considered mild.
“We found that CsA 0.09% was similarly effective and significantly reduced total CFS and total CS scores in patients with or without MGD at baseline,” Johnston said. “These results suggest that switching to CsA 0.09% improves signs of DED in patients with or without a history of MGD who were inadequately controlled on CsA 0.05%. CsA 0.09% was well tolerated, and most adverse events were mild in severity. Patients may benefit from CsA 0.09% treatment either alone or in addition to other MGD management.”
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Johnston J, et al. Efficacy of cyclosporine ophthalmic solution 0.09% in patients with uncontrolled dry eye disease: A subgroup analysis in patients with or without meibomian gland dysfunction. Presented at: SECO; Feb. 25 to March 1; Atlanta.
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