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Abstract
Purpose
To evaluate the initial efficacy and safety of intravitreal faricimab in eyes previously treated for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nARMD).
Patients and methods
A retrospective review of all patients with nARMD previously treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) injections who received at least 3 intravitreal faricimab injections with at least 3 months of follow-up.
Results
A total of 190 eyes were included. Patients received a mean of 34.2±23 anti-VEGF injections over 182.41±128 weeks prior to switching to faricimab. Patients then received a mean of 6.99±2.3 faricimab injections with an average 34.88±8.2 weeks of follow-up. The mean best corrected visual acuities improved from 0.33±0.32 logMAR ≈20/43 to 0.27±0.32 logMAR ≈20/37 (P=0.0022). The central subfield thickness (CST) improved from 312±87μm to 287±71μm (P<0.0001). At the last clinical visit, 24% had no subretinal fluid or intraretinal fluid on optical coherence tomography. The mean dosing interval between the last two consecutive faricimab injections (7.64±6.2 weeks) was significantly longer than that for ranibizumab (5.16±2.0 weeks, P<0.001) or aflibercept (5.57±3.6 weeks, P<0.001). No patients developed idiopathic intraocular inflammation.
Conclusion
Intravitreal faricimab was associated with improved vision and CSTs, even in treatment-resistant nARMD eyes. The mean last dosing interval for faricimab was longer than for ranibizumab or aflibercept. No significant adverse events were directly attributed to faricimab during the study.
Acknowledgments
The authors are extremely grateful to the contributions of Dr. Hyung Cho, Dr. Michael Jacobson, Dr. Sean Koh, Dr. Rahul Komati, Dr. Scott Lampert, Dr. Gregory Lee, Dr. John Miller, Dr. Yogin Patel, Dr. Mark Rivellese, Dr. Atul Sharma, Dr. Jay Stallman, Dr. Robert Stoltz, Dr. Stephanie Vanderveldt, and Dr. Harpreet (Paul) Walia.
Disclosure
Dr. Chin Yee is a speaker for Genentech, and Dr. Mukkamala is a speaker for Regeneron; neither company had any involvement in the study. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.