Drug therapy benefits diabetic eye disease

NEW YORK, April 30 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say a new drug designed to treat diabetic eye disease performed better in clinical trials than did the current standard of laser surgery.

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation collaboration between Johns Hopkins University and the pharmaceutical company Genentech Inc. produced the findings, representing the six-month end-point evaluation of the READ-2 (Ranibizumab for Edema of the mAcula in Diabetes) clinical trial.

The multi-center study, which began in December 2006, was designed to test the long-term safety and effectiveness of injections of the drug ranibizumab in patients with diabetic macular edema, a condition characterized by swelling of the central portion of the retina, or macula, at the back of the eye. In addition, the trial sought to determine the comparative efficacy of ranibizumab versus conventional treatment -- laser photocoagulation therapy -- or both together.

The medical scientists found patients treated with ranibizumab experienced significantly greater improvements in visual acuity compared with patients receiving other interventions. In addition, patients treated with ranibizumab had a 56 percent reduction in excess retinal thickness, whereas only an 11 percent reduction was seen in those receiving laser treatments.

Ranibizumab is manufactured by Genentech.