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A Primer on PULSAR | Keyvan Koushan, M.D., ASRS 2023
In an interview with Managed Healthcare Executive prior to the meeting, Keyvan Koushan, M.D., a retina specialist at the Toronto Retina Institute and a lecturer in the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences at the University of Toronto, briefly described the design of the PULSAR trial and the positive results that have been reported so far.
The PULSAR trial testing higher doses of Eylea (aflibercept) given a longer intervals is one of the most watched trials in the world of retinal disease. This morning’s session on wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) at the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS) annual scientific meeting in Seattle featured four presentations of data from the trial.
Keyvan Koushan, M.D., a retina specialist at the Toronto Retina Institute and a lecturer in the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences at the University of Toronto, is presenting data from subgroup analyses of the trial.
In an interview with Managed Healthcare Executive prior to the meeting, Koushan briefly described the design of the PULSAR trial and the positive results that have been reported so far.
Eylea and other anti-VEGF treatments have transformed the treatment of wet AMD and other retinal diseases, but Koushan noted that the difficulties of the frequent injections.
“We have a problem with neovascular (wet) macular degenerations and that’s the treatment burden. A lot of patients have to come to clinics every month or every two months. With new medications coming to the market or high doses of existing medications like aflibercept that are being studied in PULSAR, our hope and goal is to see if we can space out these injections more and more and hence reduce the treatment burden,” Koushan said.
It Flopped on Primary Endpoint, But Succeeded on Visual Acuity | ASRS 2023
July 31st 2023AXNOO7, an investigational agent for geographic atrophy, did not affect geographic atrophy lesions but showed positive effects of tests of visual acuity. A novel, neuroprotective mechanism of action may be why.
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When a Biosimilar Might Increase Not Decrease Costs | Ravi Parikh, M.D., M.P.H., ASRS 2023
July 30th 2023The approval of an ophthalmic bevacizumab biosimilar might mean the end of low-cost, repackaged Avastin as an anti-VEGF treatment for retinal diseases, with the unintended consequence of adding $457 million to Medicare B spending.
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Endophthalmitis After Anti-VEGF Injections: A Rare But Real Risk | ASRS 2023
July 30th 2023Researchers used the American Academy of Ophthalmology's IRIS database to quantify the risk of endophthalmitis — inflammation of intraocular fluids — after injections with anti-VEGF drugs. They found that post-injection endophthalmitis occurs, on average, once every 3,500 injections.
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Eylea Biosimilar Produces Favorable Results in a Switching Study | ASRS 2023
July 30th 2023Samsung Bioepsis' SB15 was comparable to Eylea (aflibercept) in a 56-week randomized clinical trial that included a rerandomization at 32 weeks. The rerandomization resulted in 111 study volunteers switching from Eylea to the biosimilar for the last part of the study.
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The Long and Short (Interval Switch) of the PULSAR Trial | ASRS 2023
July 29th 2023About 20% of patients in the trial of a high-dose, longer-interval regimen of Eylea (aflibercept )switched to shorter intervals, according to data presented today at the American Society of Retinal Specialists annual scientific meeting, which is being held in Seattle. Researchers didn't find any clues as to why in their baseline characteristics.
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