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Review
. 2025 Feb;263(2):249-258.
doi: 10.1007/s00417-024-06595-7. Epub 2024 Jul 29.

Diabetic macular edema: Upcoming therapies

Audrey Yan  1 , Crandall Jones  2 , Sibel Demirel  3 , Jay Chhablani  4
Affiliations
Review

Diabetic macular edema: Upcoming therapies

Audrey Yan et al. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2025 Feb.

Abstract

Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a serious vision-threatening complication that can arise at any stage of diabetic retinopathy. Primary treatment involves anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents, which are highly effective but associated with challenges, such as the need for frequent injections, relapses, and resistance to therapy. Therefore, there has been a growing interest in developing new treatments that offer similar or superior outcomes in DME. This review article explores emerging treatments, including WNT agonists, gene therapy, protein inhibitors, and, most importantly, the first-ever non-invasive and oral drugs. The evolving therapies in diabetic retinopathy offer hope for continued improvement in vision loss associated with one of the most common chronic conditions worldwide.

Keywords: Anti-VEGF; Diabetic macular edema; Diabetic macular edema therapy; Diabetic retinopathy; Gene therapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: No conflicting relationship exists for any authors. Informed consent: Not applicable as this article does not contain any studies with human participants. Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest: All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript. Research involving human participants and/or animals: This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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