NEW MACULAR DEGENERATION TREATMENT – 2023 CLINICAL TRIAL AT CITY EYE CENTRE
Do you know of friends or families who often talk about having “needles” in their eyes for their macular degeneration?
Anti-VEGF injections have been an effective mainstay treatment for neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration for over a decade now.
Over the years, patients with macular degeneration may have received injections from their treating ophthalmologists with endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor such as Avatin® (bevacizumab), Lucentis® (ranibizumab), Eylea® (aflibercept), and Beovu® (brolucizumab-dbll).
Vabysmo™ (faricimab) is the new kid on the block on the armamentarium of treatments for neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Vabysmo® (faricimab) was approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in August 2022. It is now available in Australia on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for the treatment of neovascular macular degeneration from 1st January 2023.
Vabysmo™ is the first bispecific antibody approved for the eye. It targets and inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) and angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2). Results from 4 clinical trials show that most patients may be able to maintain their vision with 12-weekly treatments and. The current standard treatment interval is around 8 weeks, depending on the patient’s eye condition. Vabysmo™ has been shown to have an excellent safety profile. It has also been approved to treat diabetic macular oedema. City Eye Centre will be commencing a clinical trial on the real-world experience of Vabysmo™. If you are interested in finding out more information, please contact Dr Jennifer Chen on (07) 3831 6888.