Neil Bressler, M.D., a researcher from Johns Hopkins Medicine helped lead colleagues from across the country in a government-sponsored study by the Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network to discover that three drugs--Eylea, Avastin, and Lucentis, used to treat diabetic macular edema (DME) are all effective. They also discovered that Eylea outperformed the other two drugs when vision loss was moderate to severe. Prior to this study, which will be published in the Feb. 18 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, it was not known how the efficacy or safety of the three drugs compared. The title of the article is “Aflibercept, Bevacizumab, or Ranibizumab for Diabetic Macular Edema.” "These findings will equip patients with the information they need to discuss with their doctors which drug to choose and will help guide protocols for clinicians using these drugs to treat patients with diabetic macular edema," says Dr. Bressler, past chair of the Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network and Director of the Retina Division at Johns Hopkins Medicine. There are nearly 750,000 people in the U.S. affected by diabetic macular edema, a diabetes-related eye disease that causes vision loss. About one-quarter of those people may have moderate to severe vision loss from diabetic macular edema when they see an ophthalmologist. In fact, it is a leading cause of vision loss in working-age Americans and is becoming a major global public health issue. Diabetic macular edema affects the area of the eye that is used for reading, driving, and watching television, all common functions of daily living.
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