• Paolo Lanzetta, Jean-François Korobelnik, Jeffrey S Heier, Sergio Leal, Frank G Holz, W Lloyd Clark, David Eichenbaum, Tomohiro Iida, Sun Xiaodong, Alyson J Berliner, Andrea Schulze, Thomas Schmelter, Ursula Schmidt-Ott, Xin Zhang, Robert Vitti, Karen W Chu, Kimberly Reed, Rohini Rao, Rafia Bhore, Yenchieh Cheng, Wei Sun, Boaz Hirshberg, George D Yancopoulos, Tien Y Wong, and PULSAR Investigators.
• Department of Medicine-Ophthalmology, University of Udine, Udine, Italy; Istituto Europeo di Microchirurgia Oculare-IEMO, Udine, Italy.
• Lancet. 2024 Mar 23; 403 (10432): 114111521141-1152.

BackgroundIntravitreal aflibercept 8 mg could improve treatment outcomes and provide sustained disease control in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), with extended dosing compared with aflibercept 2 mg.MethodsPULSAR is a phase 3, randomised, three-group, double-masked, non-inferiority, 96-week trial conducted across 223 sites worldwide. Adults with nAMD were randomised 1:1:1 to aflibercept 8 mg every 12 weeks (8q12), aflibercept 8 mg every 16 weeks (8q16), or aflibercept 2 mg every 8 weeks (2q8), following three initial monthly doses in all groups. From week 16, patients in the aflibercept 8 mg groups had their dosing interval shortened if pre-specified dose regimen modification criteria denoting disease activity were met. The primary endpoint was change from baseline in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at week 48. All patients with at least one dose of study treatment were included in the efficacy and safety analyses. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04423718) and is ongoing.FindingsOf 1011 patients randomised to aflibercept 8q12 (n=336), 8q16 (n=338), or 2q8 (n=337) between Aug 11, 2020, and July 30, 2021, 1009 patients received study treatment (aflibercept 8q12 n=335; aflibercept 8q16 n=338; and aflibercept 2q8 n=336). Aflibercept 8q12 and 8q16 showed non-inferior BCVA gains versus aflibercept 2q8 (mean BCVA change from baseline +6·7 [SD 12·6] and +6·2 [11·7] vs +7·6 [12·2] letters). The least squares mean differences between aflibercept 8q12 versus 2q8 and 8q16 versus 2q8, respectively, were -0·97 (95% CI -2·87 to 0·92) and -1·14 (-2·97 to 0·69) letters (non-inferiority margin at 4 letters). The incidence of ocular adverse events in the study eye was similar across groups (aflibercept 8q12 n=129 [39%]; aflibercept 8q16 n=127 [38%]; and aflibercept 2q8 n=130 [39%]).InterpretationAflibercept 8 mg showed efficacy and safety with extended dosing intervals, which has the potential to improve the management of patients with nAMD.FundingBayer AG and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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