Advancing the Treatment of Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Diabetic Macular Edema With Novel and Emerging Monoclonal Antibody Therapy

Program Description
Neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME) are serious ophthalmic conditions that can lead to vision loss. The pathologies for these conditions are complex and involve multiple pathways, primarily angiopoietin-2 (ANG-2) and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A), which can result in vision impairment and discomfort for the patient. Current treatment options involve anti-VEGF monotherapy, but require frequent office visits and injections for the patients as well as frequent patient monitoring for the providers. Because of this treatment burden, many patients do not experience the optimal clinical outcomes of treatment and still experience significant vision reduction and macular degeneration. Novel and emerging treatment options have the potential to improve outcomes over current therapy and reduce the injection burden. Managed care pharmacists have an important role in managing the unique and specialized treatment considerations for these therapies with dual mechanisms to improve patient outcomes as well as in developing strategies to address current gaps of care.

Target Audience: Managed care pharmacists

Type of Activity: Application
Release date: February 28, 2022
Expiration date: March 15, 2023

Time to complete activity: 2.0 hours
Fee: Free

Educational Objectives

At the completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Analyze the burden of neovascular age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema (nAMD/DME) and challenges associated with current treatment options
• Examine advances in dual mechanism treatment options for nAMD/DME including mechanism of action, efficacy, and safety data
• Identify strategies for managed care professionals to effectively review and assess novel and emerging nAMD/DME treatment options