A new clinical trial showed positive results for patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The study, which monitored the use and performance of Squalamine eye drops, showed improvement in a number of visual functions.
Conducted by Ohr Pharmaceutical, the nine-month research was a Phase II clinical trial that tested for the effectiveness of Squalamine eye drops in improving visual function. All patients had administered eye drops two times per day, either Squalamine or a placebo, plus injections of ranibizumab as needed.
The results were positive, with a mean change in visual acuity (VA) seen in participants as early as four weeks into the study. Relative to the placebo group, patients receiving the eye drops continued to show gains in VA through 38 weeks. Eye drop patients were also more than twice as likely as the placebo to gain four or more lines of vision on a standard eye chart.
The study did not find significant differences in the number of ranibizumab injections across the two patient groups as the trial hoped to prove. But the demonstrated visual acuity gains provide significant support for the Squalamine eye drops as an alternative treatment. If in the future they are shown to work as a replacement for standard intravitreal injections, these self-administered eye drops could be a far more convenient and less invasive option for wet AMD patients.