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Background and objective To evaluate the safety and efficacy of intravitreal sirolimus for persistent, exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods This institutional review board approved, registered (NCT02357342), prospective, subject-masked, single center, randomized controlled trial in subjects with persistent, exudative Age-related macular degeneration compared intravitreal sirolimus monotherapy (every 2 months) versus monthly anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) over six months. Results 20 subjects were randomized to each arm of the trial. Upon completion of the trial 20 patients were analyzed in the control (anti-vascular endothelial growth factor) group and 17 patients were analyzed in the treatment (sirolimus) group. On average, subjects had 33 previous anti-VEGF injections prior to entry. The primary end-point, mean central subfield thickness (CST), increased by 20 µm in the anti-vascular endothelial growth factor group and decreased by 40 µm in the sirolimus group (p = 0.03). Visual acuity outcomes were similar between groups. Serious ocular adverse events in the sirolimus group included one subject each with anterior uveitis, central retinal artery occlusion and subretinal hemorrhage. Conclusion Monotherapy with intravitreal sirolimus for subjects with persistent, exudative age-related macular degeneration appears to have a limited positive anatomic benefit. The presence of adverse events in the experimental group merits further evaluation, potentially as an adjuvant therapy. Trial registration This trial was registered with the clinicaltrials.gov, NCT02357342, and was approved by the institutional review board at Advarra. Funding was provided by an investigator-initiated grant from Santen. Santen played no role in the design or implementation of this study.

To compare intravitreal bevacizumab monotherapy with intravitreal dexamethasone delayed delivery system monotherapy for persistent diabetic macular edema. Single-center, randomized, subject-masked study of eyes with persistent diabetic macular edema, defined as central subfield thickness (CST) >340 μm despite ≥3 anti–vascular endothelial growth factors injections within 5 months. The intravitreal bevacizumab monotherapy (n = 23 eyes) and delayed delivery system monotherapy (n = 27 eyes) groups received treatments q1month and q3months, respectively. Baseline best-corrected visual acuity and CST were similar in the two groups. At Month 7, the mean final best-corrected visual acuity (mean ± SD) was 65 ± 16 letters (mean Snellen visual acuity 20/50) and 64 ± 11 letters (20/50) (P = 0.619), the mean change in best-corrected visual acuity was +5.6 ± 6.1 and +5.8 ± 7.6 letters (P = 0.785), the mean final CST was 471 ± 157 and 336 ± 89 μm (P = 0.001), and the mean change in CST was −13 ± 105 and −122 ± 120 μm (P = 0.005) in the intravitreal bevacizumab monotherapy and delayed delivery system monotherapy groups, respectively. The number of injections was 7.0 ± 0.2 and 2.7 ± 0.5 (P < 0.001) in the 2 groups. The two groups had similar best-corrected visual acuity gains. The delayed delivery system monotherapy group achieved a significantly greater reduction of CST compared with the intravitreal bevacizumab monotherapy group, with a q3month interval of treatment, and had no recurrent edema at any visit.