In another re-treatment study published online by the AJO, the results at two years of Roche’s Avastin (bevacizumab), used off label was reported.

This non-randomised, open-label prospective study enrolled 51 patients (51 eyes) with AMD with choroidal neovascularization, recruited at the American University in Beirut and at the Paris Hôtel-Dieu hospital. The patients had been monitored for 12 months.

The criteria for re-treatment involved the presence of hemorrhage in the macula, an increase in retinal thickness of at least 100 ?m, a loss of at least five letters together with progression of hemorrhage in the macula, standard neovascularization or a new macular hemorrhage.

After two years, the average visual acuity went from 45.7 to 54.3 letters and 47 eyes (92.2%) lost less than 15 letters. Retinal thickness went from an initial measurement of 327.4 ?m to 246.6 ?m at 24 months.

On average, the patients received 1.5 injections during the second year. “No serious ocular or systemic side effects were noted,” the report said.

For more, see the writeup in APM Health Europe ^[1].