2015's glaucoma therapy advances

Reviewed by Neeru Gupta, MD, PhD, MBA, and Kuldev Singh, MD, MPH

While no new drug shook up the world of glaucoma in 2015, a variety of promising agents made incremental advances toward the market with their true potential as yet unproven. Manufacturers have continued to refine approaches to existing drugs.

“We have limited drug choices and frequent side effects,” said Neeru Gupta, MD, PhD, MBA, professor and chief of Glaucoma, University of Toronto, with the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto. “Our surgical interventions are not without potentially serious complications. We’re looking for new drugs with a new target and minimal side effects.”

Existing drugs can successfully lower IOP, but often cause irritating side effects. The inconvenience of applying multiple drops per day also makes adherence a challenge for many patients.

New mechanisms

While a new non-prostaglandin drug is unlikely to replace prostaglandin analogues as the preferred first-line agent of choice in the near future, several drugs have the potential to be useful adjuncts to such therapy, according to Kuldev Singh, MD, MPH, professor of ophthalmology and director, Glaucoma Service, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA…….

Read more: http://ophthalmologytimes.modernmedicine.com/ophthalmologytimes/news/2015s-glaucoma-therapy-advances

Source: Ophthalmology Times