Implant allows 15 months between treatments for AMD

The Phase II LADDER study of the implantable delivery syst tracked 220 patients who were randomised to one of three concentration groups of ranibizumab (10 mg/mL, 40 mg/mL, or 100 mg/mL) in an implantable device, or given a conventional monthly injection of ranibizumab (.5 mg).Patients treated with the highest ranibizumab concentration could go a median of 15 months before needing a refill and the port delivery treatment was deed as effective as monthly injections.“Fewer injections and office visits is exciting,” lead investigator Professor Carl Regillo said.“But more importantly, we think it will translate into better visual outcomes because in the real world, patients get less treatment than they need. If you’re a week or two late for a visit from time to time, you may have a decline in vision, and you can’t always recover from that. It’s a relentlessly progressive disease.”The data showed in patients receiving the 100 mg/mL ranibizumab, about 80% went more than six months without needing to refill their medication. In the 10 mg/mL and 40 mg/mL groups, 63.5% and 71.3% went six months or more, respectively.In a separate study, faricimab – the first bispecific antibody designed for the eye – compared well with monthly ranibizumab for AMD patients.According to the Phase II STAIRWAY study, at 52 weeks faricimab patients dosed either every 16 weeks or every 12 weeks donstrated vision outcomes comparable to ranibizumab dosed every four weeks.Results of the study were presented at the American Acady of Ophthalmology’s annual meeting.