Key takeaways:

• Macular fluid significantly resolved at 6 months, and BCVA improved in treatment-naïve eyes.
• No cases of intraocular inflammation or vasculitis were reported.

Faricimab showed a positive treatment effect for up to 6 months in patients with macular edema due to retinal vein occlusion, according to data published in Ophthalmology and Therapy.

“Due to the very recent approval of faricimab for [macular edema] secondary to [retinal vein occlusion], and consequent restrictions on cost reimbursement by health systems, real-world data have been limited so far, and the first reports have only recently begun to emerge,” Katharina Heck, FMH, FEBO, of the Vista Augenklinik Binningen in Switzerland, and colleagues wrote.

Faricimab showed a positive treatment effect for up to 6 months in patients with macular edema due to retinal vein occlusion. Image: Adobe Stock

For a real-world look at outcomes with faricimab (Vabysmo, Roche), Heck and colleagues retrospectively analyzed data from 10 centers in the Swiss Retina Research Network, all of which employed “a largely identical treatment scheme.”

Over 6 months, they evaluated outcomes in 99 eyes that switched to faricimab from other anti-VEGF medications and 13 treatment-naïve eyes.

“This study uniquely reflects a healthcare setting with early access to therapy, resulting in relatively high baseline [best corrected visual acuity] and substantial pretreatment exposure, thereby representing a particularly challenging and clinically relevant population,” the researchers wrote.

The primary outcomes included mean changes in ETDRS visual acuity, central subfield thickness and central retinal thickness.

BCVA improved from 0.46 logMAR to 0.32 logMAR in treatment-naïve eyes at 6 months. While statistically significant, the finding “fell short of expectations” compared with phase 3 trials, the researchers wrote, adding that it could be due to generally high BCVA at baseline or differences between real-world studies and randomized controlled trials.

Visual acuity in eyes previously treated with anti-VEGF “remained stable,” with no significant change.

Both groups significantly improved in central subfield thickness and central retinal thickness. Macular fluid also significantly resolved across all ETDRS grid zones in both groups at 6 months.

There were no reported cases of intraocular inflammation or vasculitis. One patient had a systemic adverse event, a non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

Overall, the study results point to “additional benefits of faricimab’s dual inhibition pathway in patients with [retinal vein occlusion],” the researchers wrote.

“The low number of [adverse events] demonstrates a promising risk-benefit profile,” they wrote.