Diabetic Macular Edema / Diabetic Retinopathy – Current Treatment – Current Treatment: Physician Insights – Diabetic Macular Edema / Diabetic Retinopathy (US)

Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a complication of diabetic retinopathy (DR) derived from chronically high blood sugar levels and resulting in vision loss and blindness if left untreated. The VEGF inhibitors Eylea, Lucentis, and off-label Avastin have historically been the first-line approach to manage DME, while the corticosteroid implants Ozurdex and Iluvien are often relegated to later lines of therapy. Unlike other anti-VEGFs, Novartis’s Beovu is rarely used due to its unfavorable safety profile. The DME market basket expanded with the launch of Roche’s anti-VEGF / Ang-2 Vabysmo in February 2022 and Regeneron’s Eylea HD in August 2023; they both address the long-standing need for less frequently dosed therapies. Market competition further increased with the launch of biosimilars of Lucentis in June 2022 at a considerable discount to the brand. Although Lucentis, Eylea, and Eylea HD are all approved to treat DR exclusive of DME in the United States, medical treatment is rarely used in this patient segment; patients presenting with severe nonproliferative DR (NPDR) are under systemic control, and those with proliferative DR (PDR), the most severe form of the disease, are often treated with panretinal laser photocoagulation.

Questions answered

• What are the drivers and constraints influencing physicians’ treatment decisions for severe NPDR, PDR, and DME? How are DME patients being treated across different lines of therapy?
• How successful are the more recently launched DME therapies Vabysmo and Eylea HD compared with the standard-of-care agents?
• How are the corticosteroid implants Ozurdex and Iluvien faring in later lines of therapy? What are the primary drivers of and obstacles to their use?
• What patient shares do intravitreal agents capture in severe NPDR, PDR, and DME? How do ophthalmologists / retinal specialists anticipate treating these patient populations three years from now?

Product description

Current Treatment: Physician Insights provides physician insights on treatment dynamics, prescribing behavior, and drivers of brand use so that marketers can create specific messaging around these treatment dynamics to more effectively increase or defend their market position.