![]()
Roche, the leading pharmaceutical company, has published phase III trials for its new drug, Vabysmo. Roche’s Vabysmo is the drug proposed by the company against macular edema caused due to branch and central retinal vein occlusion. Vabysmo offered topline results in two global phases III trials, BALATON and COMINO. Vabysmo is the bispecific antibody that is used for retinal vein occlusion or RVO. Retinal vein occlusion is a major eye condition that affects around 2 million people worldwide.
Retinal vein occlusion is an eye disorder that causes blockage in retinal veins. Retinal veins are responsible for carrying the blood away from the eyes. One of the major reasons behind retinal vein occlusion is atherosclerosis or stiffening of retinal arteries. Due to the stiffening of retinal arteries, the blood flow gets restricted, leading to the formation of blood clots. Hence, blockage of small retinal veins is often experienced near the stiffened arteries. Besides atherosclerosis, retinal vein occlusion is also caused by various diseases such as Diabetes, High blood pressure, or hypertension, and various eye infections like glaucoma, macular edema, or vitreous hemorrhage. The geriatric population is highly susceptible to such medical conditions. Hence, older people are highly susceptible to retinal vein occlusion.
Roche’s new drug, Vabysmo uses faricimab as the active pharmaceutical ingredient. Faricimab is an antibody that is derived from IgG1 and is biospecific. Vabysmo is the only available product prepared using Faricimab. BALATON and COMINO, both studies showed positive results regarding the use of faricimab or Vabysmo in treating both types of retinal vein occlusion. The studies showed that administering Vabysmo injections to patients suffering from retinal vein occlusion every four weeks, for up to 24 weeks resulted in regaining visual acuity higher than the patients who received aflibercept injections. Aflibercept is the current medication that is used to treat macular edema.
Levi Garraway, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Global Product Development at Roche, said that the data which has come through the phase III studies suggests that Vabysmo can effectively assist people living with retinal vein occlusion as a new treatment option for a serious condition which if not treated, could result into a permanent vision impairment. She further continued that the results which are obtained from these two global studies prove the efficacy of Vabysmo and the company will soon be submitting these results to the drug regulatory authorities worldwide.
Roche has distinctly created Vabysmo to effectively target the disease pathways which are followed in many diseases and medical conditions related to the eyes and retina. Vabysmo neutralizes the angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) and vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A), two of the commonly affected molecules during retinal diseases. Because of this, Vabysmo can effectively restore the visual abilities of a person suffering from disorders that follow these two disease pathways. During the progression of retinal vein occlusion or RVO, the levels of angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) increase extensively. Vabysmo acts by neutralizing angiopoietin-2 and decreasing its concentration, thus significantly restoring the vision of patients suffering from RVO.
Yash Ranjan10/28/2022
