Description of Ophthalmic Pharmaceutical and Device Start-Up Companies.

AIMS: To describe the number, type and location of ophthalmic companies and their associated product areas and indications. METHODS: A retrospective, non-patient-based, observational review of ophthalmic pharmaceutical and device companies with a new product in development. Data was compiled by Internet searches. RESULTS: We identified 190 companies currently developing ophthalmic products: 134 (71%) were privately held and 56 (29%) publicly held, while 136 (72%) were in the United States and 53 (28%) were outside the United States. There were 436 total products of which 338 (78%) were pharmaceuticals and 98 (22%) devices. With pharmaceuticals we identified 46 separate indications with age-related macular degeneration (n = 75), glaucoma (n = 52) and dry eye (n = 46) as most common; anti-vascular endothelial growth factor, hormone therapy and anti-inflammatory products were also common classes. With devices there were 30 indications with glaucoma (n = 26), age-related macular degeneration (n = 19) and dry eye (n = 6) as most common; drug delivery, ocular implants and prostheses were less common classes. CONCLUSIONS: Ophthalmology as a specialty is benefited by a wide effort in new medicine and device development. However, a concentration of effort into relatively few indications suggests a potential lack of market analysis and possible difficulty for many companies in commercializing their product.

Techniques to Reduce the Placebo Effect in Glaucoma Clinical Trials.

AIM: To evaluate techniques used to reduce the placebo effect in prior well-controlled, single or double-masked placebo-controlled glaucoma trials. METHODS: This study was a retrospective, non-patient-based, observational review of phase I-III trials with a placebo arm for glaucoma medicines available after 1977. RESULTS: This study included 20 articles with 20 placebo control arms consisting of 458 patients evaluating 10 different glaucoma medications with 58 treatment arms. There was no statistical difference across the evaluated types of study designs to limit the placebo effect either for the morning trough or diurnal curve. The average reduction of the intraocular pressure in the placebo groups was 1.6 ± 1.5 mm Hg for the morning trough and 1.3 ± 1.3 mm Hg for the diurnal curve across all studies. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that current design techniques described in the literature to limit the placebo effect appear ineffective compared to no additional techniques.

The placebo effect in early-phase glaucoma clinical trials.

PURPOSE: To analyze the extent and prevalence of the placebo effect in prior early-phase glaucoma clinical studies. METHODS: Articles were evaluated on phase I and II trials of glaucoma medicines that became commercially available after 1977 with a placebo arm that involved glaucoma patients. RESULTS: We included 23 studies with 23 treatment arms with a total of 1703 patients in articles evaluating 10 different glaucoma medications. This study showed that at 8 AM (n = 18), the average decrease in placebo from untreated baseline was 2.3 ± 1.6 mm Hg (9%), while for the diurnal curve (n = 17), the mean decrease was 1.4 ± 1.1 mm Hg (6%). At 8 AM, 8/18 treatment arms had greater than 2 mm Hg intraocular pressure (IOP) decrease, and all had at least some reduction in IOP. For the diurnal curve, 4 of 17 studies had reduced IOP greater than 2 mm Hg. One treatment arm had no placebo effect. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that a placebo effect is common in glaucoma clinical trials and potentially could limit the ability to evaluate the efficacy of a new medicine.

Intraocular pressure efficacy of glaucoma medications versus placebo in phase II compared to later phase trials.

This review aimed to compare the predictive value between the untreated reduction in intraocular pressure (IOP) from baseline or placebo measured in early phase clinical trials to phase III and IV results for glaucoma medicines. Published, placebo-controlled, randomised, parallel, single-masked or double-masked clinical trials with at least one phase II, III and IV study available were reviewed. This study included 50 articles evaluating 9 medicines from 59 active arms and 18 placebo arms. For all studies the phase II IOP reduction from placebo showed less decrease compared to the decrease from baseline (p<0.04). For all medicines, reductions from morning baseline in phase II did not predict better than the decrease from placebo for phase III (p=0.15) or IV (p=0.08) reductions in IOP. In contrast, diurnal IOP reduction from baseline in phase II predicted decreases better than placebo in phase III (p=0.007) and IV (p=0.02). Generally, for prostaglandins, ß blockers and carbonic anhydrase inhibitors for the morning trough and diurnal curve there was no difference in pressure reduction from baseline for phase II compared to phase III or IV (p≥0.23). In contrast, where comparisons were available for the decrease in pressure from placebo there were differences for phase II compared to phase III and phase IV (p≤0.02). This study suggests that in early phase glaucoma trials, using the reduction from untreated baseline in general better approximates the results of later regulatory and post-commercialisation trials than the decrease from placebo.