Genentech: Largest Real-World Studies Show Vabysmo’s Long-Term Benefits for Wet AMD, DME

Genentech presented more than 20 abstracts across its ophthalmology portfolio at the 2025 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) annual meeting. Key studies highlight Vabysmo’s long-term ability to sustain vision improvements in patients with wet age-related diabetic macular edema (DME), retinal vein occlusion (RVO), and degeneration (AMD), and its capability to reduce treatment frequency. 

Notable studies presented at ARVO 2025 include:

FARETINA-nAMD and FARETINA-DME: With over 23,000 wet AMD and 5,400 DME patients, the FARETINA studies are the largest real-world analyses of Vabysmo to date, with 2-year real-world data confirming sustained vision improvements and significant reductions in retinal swelling for both wet AMD and DME.

• Treatment-naïve patients experienced vision gains, while those previously on anti-VEGF therapy maintained stability.

• FARETINA-nAMD and FARETINA-DME data show that patients required fewer Vabysmo injections over time, reducing treatment burden while maintaining or improving their vision.

BALATON/COMINO: New post hoc findings showed patients with RVO who achieved early resolution of macular blood vessel leakage were significantly more likely to maintain extended dosing intervals of every 3 to 4 months, reducing the need for more frequent injections.

• Patients with minimal macular leakage at week 24 had more than twice the odds of achieving extended dosing intervals at week 68 compared to those with greater macular leakage. 

• A greater proportion of patients treated with Vabysmo achieved absence of macular leakage at week 24 compared to aflibercept.

YOSEMITE/RHINE post hoc UWFA analysis: In the largest ultra-widefield fluorescein angiography (UWFA) analysis completed for a phase 3 trial, 415 patients treated with Vabysmo showed significantly greater reductions in blood vessel leakage and microaneurysm count compared to aflibercept 2 mg after 16 weeks.

• Results suggest that dual Ang-2/VEGF-A pathway inhibition with Vabysmo may enhance vascular stability and potentially slow the course of DME.

Indirect Comparison of the Relative Effectiveness of Vabysmo vs Aflibercept 8 mg in DME and Wet AMD: A network meta-analysis indirectly comparing Vabysmo to aflibercept in DME and wet AMD found that Vabysmo led to greater reductions in central subfield thickness than both standard and high-dose aflibercept – while also delivering similar vision gains at 12 weeks.