Published in Research

EYLEA HD injection 8 mg pivotal data in wet AMD and DME published in The Lancet

  • Published results show EYLEA HD with extended 12- or 16-week dosing regimens demonstrated non-inferior vision gains to standard of care EYLEA (aflibercept) Injection 2 mg with fixed 8-week dosing in patients with wAMD and DME in the first year
  • EYLEA HD has shown impressive durable visual improvements and rapid and resilient fluid control with a safety profile comparable to EYLEA
  • Extended dosing intervals with EYLEA HD have the potential to substantially reduce treatment burden for patients
  • EYLEA HD has been approved in multiple countries including the U.S., EU and Japan

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced The Lancet published one-year results from the pivotal PULSAR and PHOTON trials for EYLEA HD (aflibercept) Injection 8 mg. Specifically, the publications detailed data demonstrating that EYLEA HD extended dosing regimens were non-inferior to EYLEA (aflibercept) injection 2 mg for both the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME).

“The publication of 48-week results from PULSAR and PHOTON in The Lancet are a recognition of the important advancement EYLEA HD has made in retinal care,” said David M. Brown, MD, FACS, director of Research at Retina Consultants of Texas and a trial investigator. “Less than a year after its approval, EYLEA HD has already made an impact in the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema. EYLEA HD has provided disease control for my tough-to-treat cases of diabetic eye disease and allowed both my diabetic and wet age-related macular degeneration patients to enjoy less frequent dosing with a similar safety profile to EYLEA.”

PULSAR and PHOTON are two double-masked, active-controlled pivotal trials evaluating EYLEA HD compared to EYLEA. As published in The Lancet, both PULSAR in wAMD (N=1,009) and PHOTON in DME (N=658) met their primary endpoints, with EYLEA HD demonstrating non-inferior and clinically equivalent vision gains at 48 weeks with both 12- and 16-week dosing regimens after only 3 initial monthly doses, compared to an EYLEA 8-week dosing regimen after initial monthly doses (3 in PULSAR and 5 in PHOTON). Furthermore, 79% and 77% of wAMD patients and 91% and 89% of DME patients, who were respectively randomized to 12- and 16-week dosing, maintained these extended dosing intervals through 48 weeks.

The most common adverse reactions (≥3%) reported in patients treated with EYLEA HD were cataract, conjunctival hemorrhage, intraocular pressure increased, ocular discomfort/eye pain/eye irritation, vision blurred, vitreous floaters, vitreous detachment, corneal epithelium defect, and retinal hemorrhage.

In August 2023, EYLEA HD was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of patients with wAMD, DME and diabetic retinopathy (DR) based on the one-year data. Two-year data were presented in 2023 for PULSAR at the EURETINA Congress and for PHOTON at the American Society of Retina Specialists annual meeting.

EYLEA HD is being jointly developed by Regeneron and Bayer AG. In the U.S., Regeneron maintains exclusive rights to EYLEA and EYLEA HD. Bayer has licensed the exclusive marketing rights outside of the U.S., where the companies share equally the profits from sales of EYLEA and EYLEA HD (known as Eylea 8 mg outside the U.S.). Eylea 8 mg is approved in the European Union, Japan and other countries. Submissions to other regulatory authorities in additional countries have been made.

About the EYLEA HD Clinical Trial Program

PULSAR in wAMD and PHOTON in DME are double-masked, active-controlled pivotal trials that are being conducted in multiple centers globally. In both trials, patients were randomized into 3 treatment groups to receive either: EYLEA HD every 12 weeks, EYLEA HD every 16 weeks, or EYLEA every 8 weeks. The lead sponsors of the trials were Bayer for PULSAR and Regeneron for PHOTON.

Patients treated with EYLEA HD in both trials had 3 initial monthly doses, and patients treated with EYLEA received 3 initial doses in PULSAR and 5 in PHOTON. In the first year, patients in the EYLEA HD groups could have their dosing intervals shortened down to an every 8-week interval if protocol-defined criteria for disease progression were observed. Intervals could not be extended until the second year of the study. Patients in all EYLEA groups maintained a fixed 8-week dosing regimen throughout their participation in the trials.