Brolucizumab prolongs interval of anti-VEGF injections in nAMD patients

Treatment with brolucizumab results in a longer interval between injections of antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agents for most treatment-experienced eyes, especially those with shorter intervals before switching, while maintaining or improving visual acuity (VA), reports a study.

Adults in the US-based Intelligent Research in Sight (IRIS) Registry with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) who received brolucizumab for 12 months (2,308 eyes of 2,079 patients) were included in this study.

The authors observed the eyes with a first injection of brolucizumab (index), followed by two or more injections over the next 12 months without switching to another anti-VEGF agent.

Overall VA was 61.6 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters at index. At 12 months, 83.7 percent of treatment-naïve eyes (184/200) and 86.1 percent of treatment-experienced eyes (1,797/2,088) achieved stable (<10 letters gained or lost) or improved (≥10 letters gained) VA.

Among previously treated eyes receiving a prior anti-VEGF injection within 365 days before index, 29.5 percent (594/2,015) had an interval before switching of ≥8 weeks (mean 7.6 weeks), while 83.1 percent (1,734/2,015) had a brolucizumab injection interval of ≥8 weeks (mean 10.3 weeks) at 12 months.

Overall, 77.1 percent (1,554/2,015) of treatment-experienced eyes had an interval extension of at least 1 week, of which 55.4 percent (861/1,554) had an extension of 4 weeks or more.

“With careful balancing of the benefits and risks, switching to brolucizumab treatment may offer the advantage of extending the treatment interval for patients with a high anti-VEGF therapy burden,” the authors said.