Standard of care for the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and visual impairment due to centre-involving diabetic macular oedema (DMO) is intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy [1, 2]. Anti-VEGF treatment offers significant visual and anatomic benefits in most patients with nAMD and DMO [1,2,3]. However, frequent anti-VEGF injections are often needed to maintain efficacy and some eyes fail to respond, only partially respond, or lose response over time and require review to assess alternative or additional treatment [4,5,6].
Faricimab (Vabysmo, Roche Products Limited) was approved in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2022 for the treatment of nAMD and DMO [7, 8], providing an additional effective treatment option—beyond VEGF inhibition alone—for both treatment-naïve and previously anti-VEGF-treated patients. Faricimab is a bispecific antibody that acts through inhibition of two distinct pathways by neutralisation of both angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) and VEGF-A [7]. Through dual pathway inhibition, faricimab is designed to reduce vascular permeability and inflammation, inhibit pathological angiogenesis and restore vascular stability [9, 10].