Archway Study For Diabetes & Macular Edema

The pharmaceutical company, Genentech, announced positive results from its phase 3 Archway study evaluating the Port Delivery System (PDS) with ranibizumab (Lucentis). 

The port is an implantable, refillable reservoir system that sits under the conjunctiva (white of the eye). It is designed to gradually release the medication called ranibizumab (Lucentis). Through a simple surgical procedure, the implant is placed in position and is refilled using a special needle.

This port delivery system will highly benefit patients with diabetic macula edema as well as patients with wet AMD. 

To date, the results of the study showed that macular edema patients who were implanted with the port and received refills every 6 months had comparable visual acuity outcomes to those receiving the traditional monthly anti-VEGF injections.

If approved, the novel port delivery system has the potential to significantly reduce the frequency of patients needing anti-VEGF injections. In fact, due to the continous delivery of the medication (ranibizumab), patients may be able to go 6 months or longer between refills. This may be the modern day solution that many patients with macular edema has been waiting for.