Exploring neovascular age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema and advances in treatment

Retinal and choroidal vascular diseases are principal causes of blindness for adults in developed countries around the world. Neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME) are 2 significant contributors to this global vision loss and confer substantial social and economic burdens on patients and society. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor intravitreal injection therapy has dominated as the standard of care treatment for over 15 years, but poor adherence and high treatment burden have led to suboptimal visual outcomes in the real world compared with the clinical trial results. New treatments are emerging that expand the therapeutic targets and use innovative delivery mechanisms with longer durability to ease the treatment burden. Understanding the benefits and drawbacks of these therapies is key to designing new treatment pathways that improve visual outcomes while decreasing the treatment burden on patients and healthcare institutions.