First neovascular AMD patients in Europe treated with epimacular brachytherapy system

NeoVista has announced that treatment for neovascular AMD using the company’s VIDON ANV Therapy System has begun in Europe. The new system replaces the current course of eye injections with a surgical vitrectomy and a single dose of beta radiation. According to the company, preliminary trials have shown the system to be safe and effective and predict that it could offer a cost-effective alternative to the burden of continuous injections of anti-VEGF therapy.

Dr Stanislao Rizzo, from the S. Chiara Hospital, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Pisana, Pisa, Italy, who treated the first patients, said: “We are very excited to be the first hospital to perform this innovative one-time treatment procedure, which can help to treat a devastating disease that otherwise requires chronic treatment for an indefinite period of time. NeoVista’s targeted epimacular brachytherapy treatment may provide us the ability to improve vision by offering a distinct mechanism of action that affects multiple disease pathways unlike the conventional anti-VEGF therapy, and may dramatically change the patient’s quality of life by eliminating frequent eye injections.”

“Monthly injections can become quite expensive for our health care system,” he continued. “A single procedure will potentially allow our specialists to treat more patients and bring down the costs associated with ongoing treatments.”