In exudative age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD), significant strides — such as the development of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapies — have pushed the treatment possibilities forward and rewritten the likely course of the disease for many patients. However, for most patients, AMD is nonexudative (dry), and treatments for those patients remain largely limited.1,2 Recent developments in the form of complement inhibitor treatments (such as pegcetacoplan and avacincaptad pegol) are showing promise in slowing progression rates of geographic atrophy (GA) — an advanced, vision-threatening form of dry AMD affecting nearly 1 in 5 patients. But for the dry AMD patients without GA, a tremendous gap in therapeutic avenues persists.
Photobiomodulation (PBM) is an emerging therapy that has shown promising potential as a possible treatment for patients with nonexudative intermediate AMD. In truth, this low-level laser therapy (LLLT) technology has existed for more than 50 years, and researchers have been reviewing its potential ocular applications for at least 20 of those years. But with a CE mark issued in 2018, the completion of a major clinical trial last year, and this year’s appeal to the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) by a manufacturer to market the technology as a noninvasive treatment option for dry AMD, PBM seems ready to shine.6,7
Its utilization will require an understanding of the technology’s history as it applies to dry AMD, and the lessons learned from the extensive clinical trials it has undergone.
