We love it when there’s a dose of good news, and that certainly seems to be the case with a new eye drop treatment for presbyopia. Allergan (Dublin, Ireland), an AbbVie company, has had their VUITY™ drops approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and now it appears that the drops are off to the races.
In what was either an ironic or clever tiny-font press release online, AbbVie (Allergan’s parent company) detailed both the specifics of the treatment and its approval status. Nearly 130 million people in the U.S. suffer from presbyopia, as well as hundreds of millions of others worldwide, and the condition is only becoming more common due to aging populations around the globe. So, a simple, nonsurgical treatment like VUITY will likely play a pivotal role in presbyopia management starting essentially right now.
VUITY for You and Me (Metaphorical “me”, of course)
You may notice the “me” part in the section title above, as well as the sneakily small font on the press release. While this particular writer is far too prideful (and young, dang it) to consider presbyopia, the fact that the treatment is totally non-invasive gives it a significantly broad appeal. If it’s such a minor commitment and doesn’t require pokey things, lasers or more, the odds are strong that many people who would otherwise be adverse to ophthalmic treatment will be willing to try it. Again, not that I need it, but hey, if it helps me read a bit better…
In addition to being non-invasive, the treatment is a simple once-daily method. According to AbbVie, the drop’s effectiveness begins in as little as 15 minutes and can last up to six hours. Best of all, it improves near and intermediate vision without impacting distance vision.
How does it work?
VUITY is a formulation of pilocarpine, which is already used to reduce intraocular pressure (IOP) in glaucoma patients. It’s also used to treat dry mouth, which is the sort of thing that might make you say, “huh, neat.”
More importantly, for the treatment of presbyopia, pilocarpine is known for its ability to constrict the pupil, and has previously been used to do so after dilation for treatment or ophthalmic diagnosis. Combining this constriction with AbbVie’s pHast™ technology means VUITY can quickly adjust to the pH of the tear film. So, we’re looking at a stable pH level combined with natural eye constriction to improve near and intermediate vision. Cool stuff, right?
The Clinical Background
VUITY was approved by the FDA after the successful GEMINI 1 and 2 studies. These were randomized studies of some 750 patients between 40 and 50 years old, with an equal distribution of placebo and VUITY. The results were promising: Patients treated with VUITY gained three lines of vision in mesopic, high contrast and near to intermediate vision, without losing more than one line of distance visual acuity at the end of a month. And even more reassuringly, there were no serious adverse events observed in any patient in either of the studies. The only adverse events reported were headache and eye redness, and those in fewer than 5% of patients.
CAKE magazine has spent increasing time covering presbyopia lately as the condition comes more to the forefront of ophthalmic science. Most specifically, promising treatments are more available than ever — which certainly makes us optimistic. Now, if we could just have a word with whoever made the font so small on AbbVie’s press release … just kidding.
Editor’s Note: A version of this article was first published in Issue 12 of CAKE magazine.
