ASRS Live: 2-year data on the PHOTON study of 8 milligrams of aflibercept for diabetic macular edema (DME)

At the 2023 ASRS meeting in Seattle, Washington, Diana Do, MD joined our team to discuss the 2-year data on the PHOTON study, which involved 8 milligrams of aflibercept for diabetic macular edema.

Video Transcript

Editor's note - This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Diana Do, MD:

Hi, I'm Dr Diana Do, professor of ophthalmology and vice chair of clinical affairs at the Byers Eye Institute at Stanford University. Today, I had the pleasure of delivering the 2-year data on the PHOTON study, which involved 8 milligrams of aflibercept for diabetic macular edema.

The key take home points are that 8 milligrams of aflibercept dosed every 12 weeks or every 16 Weeks was non -nferior to 2 milligrams of aflibercept given every 8 weeks, and these benefits were sustained through 2 years of follow up. In addition, it's remarkable that those eyes randomized to the 8 milligram dosing group were able to maintain dosing intervals of 12 weeks and 16 weeks for the vast majority of patients in the study. In fact, 89 percent of 8 milligram-treated eyes maintained 12 weeks or longer dosing intervals through 2 years. And at the last interval of dosing. Approximately 27 percent of subjects are able to be dosed at 24 weeks. In terms of safety, 8 milligrams of aflibercept had very low rates of intraocular inflammation, and the safety was comparable to that of 2 milligrams of aflibercept. In summary, 8 milligrams of aflibercept provided improved visual acuity outcomes and reductions in retinal thickness that were sustained through 2 years while decreasing the burden of frequent injections.