Wet age-related macular degeneration: treatment advances to reduce the injection burden

The burden of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of vision loss in the elderly population, is poised to increase dramatically as the baby boomer generation ages. Fortunately, the prognosis of neovascular AMD has improved dramatically since anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents reached the market 15 years ago. In large-scale clinical trials, anti-VEGF utilization maintained visual acuity in more than 90% of patients. However, providing anti-VEGF treatment requires the specialized expertise of retina specialists and is labor intensive and costly. Further, results in clinical practice do not always measure up to those obtained in rigorous phase 3 trials. Undertreatment and the burden on patients and caregivers from frequent anti-VEGF injections contribute to suboptimal visual acuity results in the real world. As a consequence, retinal specialists are focused on finding effective strategies to extend the dosing interval. These include individualized optical coherence tomography-guided dosing regimens, longer acting new agents with similar or new mechanisms of action, and sustained release delivery devices. With the recent approval of brolucizumab, the neovascular AMD armamentarium has expanded to 4 anti-VEGF agents, and more are in development. Understanding the treatment landscape is a key issue in managed care due to the substantial cost of anti-VEGF medications. The goal of this article is to provide managed care clinicians with an up-to-date assessment of currently available agents, followed by a preview of some investigational agents that could alter the future treatment landscape. These agents include abicipar pegol, faricimab, the ranibizumab port delivery system, an intravitreal bevacizumab formulation, and anti-VEGF biosimilars.