Investigational pipeline for DME looks promising
Pharmacotherapy research for diabetic macular edema is looking at targets other than VEGF inhibition to develop treatments that can be used as standalone intervention or may be complementary to current options.
Take-home: Pharmacotherapy research for diabetic macular edema is looking at targets other than VEGF inhibition to develop treatments that can be used as standalone intervention or may be complementary to current options.
Reviewed by Quan Dong Nguyen, MD, MSc
Omaha, NE-Pharmacotherapy with intravitreal injection of an anti-VEGF agent has been a major advance for the management of center-involving diabetic macular edema (DME), but clinicians are looking to the future as well because there are a number of novel compounds in the pipeline that are being investigated to treat this sight-threatening disease, said Quan Dong Nguyen, MD, MSc.
“We have been fortunate to have three outstanding anti-VEGF agents to use for management of DME. Nevertheless, these modalities also have their drawbacks and limitations,” said Dr. Nguyen, Chairman and Inaugural Director, McGaw Professor of Ophthalmology, Truhlsen Eye Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE.
“Looking ahead, there are a number of pharmacologic agents in development addressing different targets. Hopefully, some of these will come to the clinic soon and allow us to improve the quality of vision for our patients with DME.”
Discussing the future of pharmacotherapy for DME, Dr. Nguyen focused on three molecules-the integrin peptide, ALG-10001 (Allegro Ophthalmics); a monoclonal antibody for insulin-like growth factor receptor 1(IGF-R1) (RV001; teprotumumab, River Vision Development); and a vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) inhibitor, ASP 8232 (Astellas Pharma).
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