Menu -- Part 10: Retinal Reports from the 2007 AAO Meeting

During the 2007 American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Meeting, and the Subspecialty Days preceding it, especially Retina 2007, I received briefs about the meetings from both Ophthalmology Times and Ocular Surgery News. Using these briefs, I was able to prepare comprehensive writeups of both the two-day Retina 2007 presentations and retinal highlights from the opening day of the main meeting. These writeups were presented in a series of three reports:

1. Retina 2007 Subspecialty Meeting Presentations – Day One

Highlights included:

Updates:

● 2-Year results of the PrONTO Study (intravitreal injections of Lucentis with OCT diagnoses for guided further treatment);

● ANCHOR Update – Lucentis vs. PDT with Visudyne;

● Avastin vs. Lucentis – A discussion of the economic and moral dilemma of using approved Lucentis vs. off-label Avastin;

● Avastin’s Impact – Despite lack of clinical data;


New Treatments for AMD:

● VEGF Trap – discussions of the CLEAR-IT AMD 1 and CLEAR-It AMD 2 trials;

● Topical Therapies – discussions of various topical treatments

- TargeGen’s 801 kinase inhibitor
- CoMentis’ ATG2
- Ocucure’s OC-10X
- Othera’s OT-551
- Glaxo-Smith-Kline’s Pazopanib

● New Developments in posterior segment drug delivery – a discussion of potetial solid implants, such as Retisert and Vitrasert from Bausch & Lomb, and a subretinal implant system from SurModics called I-vation.

And, finally, an interview with Dr. Judah Folkman, the father of anti-angiogenic agents, and the keynote speaker for the opening session of the AAO Meeting.


2. Retina 2007 Subspecialty Meeting Presentations – Day Two

Highlights included:

● A discussion of Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann’s (Genentech’s President, Product Development) presentation to the Retina 2007 assembly and her Q&A session;

● Sub-Retinal Implants for treating retinitis pigmentosa;

● Retinopathy of Prematurity – Anti-VEGF therapy is on the horizon;

● Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography advances; and,

● New Non-Thermal Laser for Retinal Treatment – a brief discussion of the Ellex 2RT Therapy.


3. More Retinal Treatment News from the 2007 AAO – Day Three

● More from Retina 2007
- A Comparison of Lucentis vs. Avastin;
- An Update on the CATT Study;
- Additional information about the Ellex 2RT laser treatment.

● Retinal-related Information from the Main AAO Meeting
- The keynote address by Dr. Judah Folkman;
- An overview of intravitreal drugs for treating diabetic retinopathy; and,
- Intravitreal therapy for vein-occlusive disease.