EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
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January 2012 Retina co-morbidity for the anterior segment surgeon February 2011 EW FEATURE 47 understand," Dr. Martin said. "We're looking forward to a second year of follow-up and to the results of other worldwide trials comparing Lucentis and Avastin." Integrin peptide therapy Another VEGF-related type of ther- apy being looked at is integrin pep- tide therapy with Alg-1001 (Allegro Ophthalmics, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) for wet AMD as well as dia- betic retinopathy. The drug has a slightly different mechanism, ac- cording to Baruch D. Kuppermann, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the retina serv- ice, and professor of ophthalmology and biomedical engineering, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, University of California, Irvine. "It does intervene with VEGF, but it also inhibits tyro- sine kinase and does things to the vitreous as well," Dr. Kuppermann said. "It can cause vitreous liquefac- tion and that decreases intraocular VEGF levels." In addition, it may cause a posterior vitreous detach- ment, which some think may in- hibit progression of disease. Dr. Kuppermann cited a small phase I study conducted by Peter Campochiaro, M.D., that showed promise for the drug. "This one re- duced the area of neovascularization by 43%, which is similar to other anti-VEGF agents," Dr. Kuppermann said. In the study, eight out of 15 eyes with diabetic macular edema showed a three-line improvement after monthly injections at 0, 30, and 60 days. "Within 30 days there was already a reduction in OCT thickness in the eight eyes that had a three-line improvement or more," Dr. Kuppermann said. "After 90 days they withheld therapy, and all of the eyes were relatively stable from an OCT thickness over that subsequent 90 days." The seven eyes that did not show a response lost no vision. A phase II trial is now being planned. Because it uses a different mech- anism of action, Dr. Kuppermann thinks that it at least theoretically may be additive to the anti-VEGF compounds. There is also the hope that it may be synergistic. At the very least it seems to have potential on its own as monotherapy, he pointed out. EW Editors' note: Dr. Kaiser has financial interests with Bayer (Leverkusen, Germany), Genentech, Novartis (Basel, Switzerland), and Regeneron. Dr. Kuppermann has financial interests with Allegro and Ophthotech (Prince- ton, N.J.). Dr. Martin has no financial interests related to this article. Contact information Kaiser: 216-444-6702, pkkaiser@aol.com Kuppermann: 949-677-6361, bdkupper@uci.edu Martin: 216-444-0431, martind5@ccf.org SAVE THE DATE: IF YOU ARE A DRIVER OR AN EARLY ADOPTER OF NEW OPHTHALMIC SURGICAL TECHNOLOGIES/TREATMENTS. "13*- THE OPHTHALMOLOGY INNOVATION SUMMIT (OIS) @ ASCRS Will unite thought leaders in anterior segment with a focus on facilitating ophthalmic surgical innovation. PROGRAM STEERING COMMITTEE William Link, PhD Managing Director Versant Ventures Gilbert Kliman, MD Managing Director InterWest Partners ŵŵĞƩ d ƵŶŶŝŶŐŚĂŵ :ƌ D WŚ DW, Partner Clarus Ventures Jim Mazzo WƌĞƐŝĚĞŶƚ ďďŽƩ DĞĚŝĐĂů KƉƟĐƐ /ŶĐ ^ƌ sŝĐĞ WƌĞƐŝĚĞŶƚ ďďŽƩ Laboratories ZŝĐŚĂƌĚ > >ŝŶĚƐƚƌŽŵ D &ŽƵŶĚĞƌ Θ ƩĞŶĚŝŶŐ Surgeon Minnesota Eye Consultants THE A UDIENCE INCLUDES: UDES nnovators/Entrepreneurs, Surgeons , A cademia, Veenture Capitalists and Industry L eaders from rivate and Public Companies. V FOR MORE INFORMA CONTACT: raig Simak nternational Business Forum, Inc . (516) 307-0743 or craig@ibfconferences.com WWW.O PHT H A LMO LOGY SUMMI T. COM Presented by ATTION t $)*$"(0 *- DON'T MISS : THE YEAR IN REVIEW: Ophthalmic Surgical Innovation Progress THE OPHTHALMOLOGY INNOVA TION SHOWCASE: rivate C ompany Technology Presentations CASE STUDIES ON SUC CESS STORIES AND LESSONS LEARNED: Bringing new technolog ies in Minimally nvasive Glaucoma Surgery to Market