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Six years after OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. bought Eyetech Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $650 million on the promise of its treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. has announced it will acquire Eyetech for $22 million.

Results from an integrated analysis of data from 12 months of follow-up in the two similarly designed prospective, randomized studies comparing aflibercept and ranibizumab indicate that intravitreal injection of aflibercept every 2 months is safe, predictably effective therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration and comparable to monthly ranibizumab 0.5 mg.

The results of the direct comparison of ranibizumab and bevacizumab after 1 year of treatment showed that the two drugs adminisred according to monthly and as-needed protocols produced significant decreases in retinal fluid with small amounts of residual fluid in patients with AMD.

A multicolor pattern scan laser should help laser therapy maintain or potentially expand its role in the treatment of certain retinal diseases even with the availability of effective new injectable pharmaceutical products, according to retinal specialists.

On Feb. 13, Merck announced that it received approval from the FDA to market its one-of-a-kind, preservative-free, prostaglandin analog, tafluprost ophthalmic solution 0.0015%, for lowering IOP in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.

The new drug in town

On Jan. 30, vismodegib became the first drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of advanced basal cell carcinoma.

Loteprednol etabonate ophthalmic suspension 0.2% is a safe and effective first-line therapy for the treatment of seasonal and perennial allergic conjunctivitis.

Use of spectacles, contact lenses, or medications does not inhibit the progression of myopia for any length of time, as seen in in large major studies in children.

Analysis of data from two bilateral conjunctival allergen challenge studies of olopatadine hydrochloride ophthalmic solution 0.2% showed that ocular itching was prevented in a higher percentage of eyes treated with olopatadine when compared with vehicle.

Recent findings about uveal melanoma indicate that patients can be divided into high- and low-risk clasess, and that a mutation in one gene on chromosomes 3, BAP1, is closely associated with the high metastatic risk class 2 form of uveal melanoma.

Since the 2009 approval of bepotastine besilate ophthalmic solution 1.5% for ophthalmic use in the United States, further analysis of clinical trial data and new information from additional studies have revealed more about the drug's clinical utility.

Ophthalmologists are not formally trained in the art of talking with patients about potentially stressful medical diagnoses; yet, this skill is important and can be the most challenging part of practice for glaucoma specialists.