Early real-world experience with intravitreal Faricimab for neovascular AMD: FAN study

Purpose

This study presents real-world experiences and clinical outcomes of patients who switched to faricimab after prior treatment with other anti-vascular endothelial growth factor medication for patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) in 2022.

Design

We evaluated all consecutive patients that received an intravitreal injection (IVI) with faricimab for nAMD and had complete follow-up visits after at least three IVI.

Methods

Functional and structural parameters including best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA, logMAR), foveal centre point (FCP, µm), central subfield retinal thickness (CSRT, µm) and macular volume (mm³) were evaluated after three (n = 71) and five (n = 57) faricimab injections with complete follow-up visits.

Results

We included 71 eyes of 63 patients. Mean BCVA at baseline was 0.49 logMAR (0 – 1.6) and did not change significantly after five faricimab injections (p = 0.33). Significant reductions were seen for FCP, CSRT and macular volume after the first five consecutive injections when compared to baseline (p < 0.0001 respectively). FCP was 388.35 µm (173–924 µm) at baseline and decreased to 279.16 µm (97 – 667) at visit 5. CSRT was 370.68 µm (202 – 1074) and decreased to 307.75 µm (168 – 590) at visit 5. Macular volume was reduced from 2.59 mm³ (1.83 – 4.90) to 2.31 mm³ (1.80 – 3.19) at visit 5. Intraocular inflammation was observed in one eye showing anterior chamber cells that resolved with topical corticosteroid treatment.

Conclusions

The results of the FAN (FAricimab for Neovascular AMD) study indicate that faricimab improves structural outcomes in patients with recalcitrant fluid due to nAMD with no major complications observed.