Positive draft final guidance from NICE for Eylea® for the treatment on wet AMD
31 May 2013
College Statement
The Royal College of Ophthalmologists welcomes the NICE draft final guidance which announces that Eylea® (aflibercept) should be recommended for the treatment of patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD). Eylea® is a soluble vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor fusion protein which binds to all forms of VEGF and placental growth factor (PIGF) and inhibits their actions. This drug has been shown in licensing trials to maintain vision and in a third of eyes to improve visual function. The advantage of Eylea® over existing treatments is its longer duration of action in the eye.
The recommended dose for Eylea® is 2mg (0.05ml) administered by intravitreal injection monthly for the first three months and then every two months. This means that once a patient has been established on the Eylea® treatment they will only have to travel to hospital every two months in the first year compared to every month with Lucentis®.
The treatment schedule for the following years will evolve with time. Not only will this reduce the burden on patients and relatives, it will also free up hospital appointments, reducing the burden on NHS resources. The addition of Eylea® to the growing number of biologicals that are used in the management of neovascular AMD will help clinicians through providing a wider choice in the selection of the most optimum treatment for their patients.
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