The Rise of New Regimens in nAMD and DME Management

The standard-of-care treatment for patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) or diabetic macular edema (DME) is intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy. Although most patients receiving these therapies experience significant visual acuity gains, a proportion remain suboptimal in their response. In addition, the frequency of dosing required to maintain initial visual outcomes can be challenging to maintain, resulting in undertreatment of disease due to loss of patient adherence. Taken together, these unmet needs define a requirement for the identification of alternate therapeutic molecular targets that have the potential to extend the time between dosing intervals while maintaining initial visual acuity gains. Recently, the FDA approved the first therapy that inhibits both the angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) and VEGF-A pathways for the treatment of nAMD and DME, providing the potential for enhanced visual acuity outcomes and extended dosing intervals when optimally integrated into clinical practice. In this continuing medical education activity, experts in the field evaluate FDA-approved injectable therapeutics for their ability to slow progression and lengthen treatment intervals in patients with nAMD and DME. They also assess recent clinical data regarding the efficacy and use of new injectable treatment regimens that can improve outcomes in these patients.