A satellite symposium held at PBMI 2026.
To attend PBMI in person, register here
Program Description
Neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME) contribute to significant clinical and financial burden for affected patients. These conditions are leading causes of visual impairment, and without consistent intervention, progressive vision loss also impairs patients' quality of life. While anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) intravitreal injections remain the cornerstone of therapy, there are documented gaps between the efficacy achieved in clinical trials and the visual outcomes observed in real-world practice. This disparity is heavily driven by frequent injection and follow-up schedules, travel limitations, and significant injection anxiety, which contribute to improper medication use and undertreatment. This session explores the established role of VEGF and angiopoietin/Tie2 pathways, alongside traditional protocols and evolving treatment paradigms like fixed, PRN, and treat-and-extend dosing. The discussion will incorporate emerging long-acting and multi-pathway therapies, and the port delivery system, with the goals of safely extending dosing intervals and alleviating the physical burden of care. Actionable managed care drug utilization strategies will be reviewed, and participants will explore how to design robust adherence support programs and streamline specialty pharmacy processes to implement patient-centric interventions. The session will also address operational workflows, with examples demonstrating how to reduce administrative friction by optimizing prior authorizations and modifying restrictive step therapy protocols to treatment access for patients with nAMD and DME.
Target audience: Managed Care Pharmacists
Type of activity: Application
Release date: September 11, 2026
Expiration date: November 11, 2026
Time
to complete activity: 1 hour
Learner level: Foundational
Fee: Free
Educational Objectives
At the completion of this activity, participants will be able to:
- Identify the unmet needs and treatment burdens associated with conventional anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapies in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME)
- Investigate recent clinical trial and real-world data on the safety, effectiveness, and durability of current and emerging treatments for nAMD and DME
- Apply information about the epidemiology and treatment advancements to support optimal care using rational drug utilization approaches for patients with nAMD and DME
