Development and Novel Therapeutics in Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a complication of diabetes mellitus which causes retinal damage which when left untreated will cause visual problems. As the prevalence of DR increases over the years, there is a need to optimise the currently available treatments as well as developing novel drugs to improve the therapy provided for the patients in the clinical practice. Several pharmacological therapies like, anti-vascular endothelial growth factor and anti-inflammatory therapies which include intravitreal, and implant of corticosteroids are significant in the management to decrease the risk of DR-related vision impairment. Clinical trials for novel drug therapies are still ongoing till this day to enhance the efficacy of DR treatment. Even though there are also modern treatments such as laser therapy for the patients, prevention should be done to lower the number of individuals affected by DR. Due to the complexity of DR, there are numerous obstacles to develop new medications for DR which include the increasing healthcare cost of DR treatment. New insights such as utilisation of artificial intelligence will be implemented into the management of DR as it has proved its potential in aiding the screening process. In parallel with the increase in DR prevalence and the number of treatments developed, extensive understanding of the mechanism of action of DR should be further improved to prevent more complications in the future. This review summarises the epidemiological trend, prevention strategies, challenges in treatment, current novel therapeutics (including drugs under clinical trials), future therapeutic trends and possibilities for implementing AI in the early diagnosis and management of DR.