Cheryl Guttman Krader, BS, Pharm

A prospective masked study enrolling eyes with low to moderate myopia with or without astigmatism found significantly better efficacy, safety, and predictability with wavefront-guided LASIK compared with small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE).

Technique targets the main cause of vision degradation and a large clinical series finds positive results.

Findings of a literature review highlight the need for more studies to compare SMILE and WFG LASIK for treatment of myopia and myopic astigmatism.

In a Phase IIa study of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration, a single subretinal injection of rAAV.sFlt-1 gene therapy (AVA-101) demonstrated acceptable safety, but not a complete or durable response. Additional preclinical research is underway.