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. 2024 Sep 26;11(10):964.
doi: 10.3390/bioengineering11100964.

Dynamics of Treatment Response to Faricimab for Diabetic Macular Edema

Katrin Fasler  1 , Daniel R Muth  1   2   3 , Mariano Cozzi  1   4 , Anders Kvanta  2   3 , Magdalena Rejdak  1 , Frank Blaser  1 , Sandrine A Zweifel  1
Affiliations

Dynamics of Treatment Response to Faricimab for Diabetic Macular Edema

Katrin Fasler et al. Bioengineering (Basel). .

Abstract

This study analyzes the dynamics of short-term treatment response to the first intravitreal faricimab injection in eyes with diabetic macular edema (DME). This retrospective, single-center, clinical trial was conducted at the Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Zurich. Patients with treatment-naïve and pretreated DME were included. Patient chart data and imaging were analyzed. Safety and efficacy (corrected visual acuity (CVA), central subfield thickness (CST), and signs of intraocular inflammation (IOI)) of the first faricimab intravitreal therapy (IVT) were evaluated weekly until 4 weeks after injection. Forty-three eyes (81% pretreated) of 31 patients were included. Four weeks after the first faricimab IVT, CVA remained stable and median CST (µm) decreased significantly (p < 0.001) from 325.0 (293.5-399.0) at baseline to 304.0 (286.5-358.0). CVA at week 4 was only associated with baseline CVA (p < 0.001). CST was the only predictive variable (p = 0.002) between baseline and week 4 CST. Weekly safety assessments did not show any sign of clinically significant IOI. This study suggests faricimab is an effective treatment for (pretreated) DME, showing structural benefit 1 month following the first injection without short-term safety signals.

Keywords: DME; IOI; IVI; IVT; ang-2; anti-VEGF; diabetic macular edema; faricimab; intraocular inflammation; intravitreal therapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Change in CVA (A) and CST (B) from baseline for eyes with weekly follow-up (baseline, week 1 and week 4: n = 23, week 2 and week 3: n = 20). CVA—corrected visual acuity, CST—central subfield thickness, ETDRS—early treatment diabetic retinopathy study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Linear mixed-effects model for (A) CVA and (B) CST with standardized beta coefficients and 95% confidence intervals of all tested variables. **—p value < 0.01, ***—p value < 0.001, CVA—corrected visual acuity, CST—central subfield thickness, ETDRS—early treatment diabetic retinopathy study, IVT—intravitreal therapy.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Change in IOP from baseline for eyes with weekly follow-up (n = 23). IOP—intraocular pressure (baseline, week 1 and week 4: n = 23, week 2 and week 3: n = 20).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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