Ozurdex, a long-acting intravitreal steroid, delivered via a sustained-release ocular implant is now available and funded for New Zealand adult diabetic macular oedema (DMO) patients, which is welcome news, say Kiwi retina specialists.
“It’s great news because Pharmac has been very reticent to fund new medications for use in the eye, and we’ve found ourselves behind our international colleagues a lot of the time in what we can use to treat our patients, without them getting a big out-of-pocket expense. So, we’re really very excited about this,” said Retina Specialists’ Dr Rachel Barnes at RANZCO 2017.
Eye Doctors’ Andrew Riley was involved with the clinical studies on Ozurdex (previously Posurdex) with his colleague, principal investigator, Dr Mark Donaldson, so he knows first-hand the benefits the Ozurdex slow-release system can bring to patients, he said. “It gives you another option, a good option. We haven’t had a second or third line (treatment) as good as this. The treatment load won’t be as bad for patients, and we now have something to better maintain their vision.”
Ozurdex is a biodegradable, intravitreal, rod-shaped implant containing 700mcg dexamethasone, which targets inflammatory mediators involved in the generation and regulation of the inflammatory response in DMO. Specially-designed to provide sustained delivery, the implant results in less frequent injections compared to anti-VEGFs.
“Diabetes is an ever-increasing problem in New Zealand, and is particularly prevalent in the Maori and Pacific Islander populations. Many of these patients already inject insulin, so the additional burden of frequent injections for DMO can severely affect independence and quality of life,” said Auckland Eye’s Dr Philip Polkinghorne. “For some patients, anti-VEGF treatments are less effective than we would like, so it is important that New Zealanders with diabetes and DMO have access to alternative treatments in order to avoid preventable sight loss.”
