A clinical trial funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has found monthly eye injections of Avastin (bevacizumab) are as effective as the reportedly more expensive drug Eylea (aflibercept) for the treatment of central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO).
According to researchers, the head-to-head comparision of two widely-used drugs for treatment of macular edema due to CRVO showed both are effective in improving vision. Called the Study of COmparative Treatments for REtinal Vein Occlusion 2 (SCORE2), the two drugs were reportedly evaluated on safety and efficacy through 362 recruited patients in 66 clinical sites throughout the U.S. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either Eyelea or Avastin via injection every four weeks for six months.
After six months, researchers reportedly found the average visual acuity in both groups improved about four lines on an eye chart, from about 20/100 visual acuity to 20/40 visual acuity. And using optical coherence tomography (OCT) to image retinal thickness, the researchers also reportedly found that macular edema decreased significantly in both groups.
The study was recently published in the journal of the American Medical Association.
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Source: National Institutes of Health