Hope is in sight: reflections on 2022 and why the future is bright in ophthalmology

Strong insights

2022 saw the publication of the Economist Impact report ‘Vision for change: Meeting the growing demand for eye care ,’ developed in partnership with Roche. This report examines the global burden of vision loss due to the most common eye conditions, with a focus on retinal conditions.

The report lays bare the significant challenges with the treatment options for retinal diseases, including the fact that current treatments require frequent – often monthly – injections to effectively manage people’s conditions. Clearly, this places a huge burden on healthcare providers and health systems around the world and can even prevent access to treatment for others. The impact on individuals and their families is also significant, as it can lead to missed visits, which in turn negatively affects treatment outcomes, sometimes even leading to vision deterioration. This problem can be even more pronounced in countries where eye care services are already oversubscribed.

The bottom line here is: if medical innovations are not reaching patients, either because of difficulties with long-term adherence to therapy, barriers to access, or excessive burden on the healthcare systems, their advantages are not going to be realised. And as one of the leading companies in the healthcare space, we take our responsibility to address these challenges seriously, which is why improving access is a key area of focus for Roche.?

The report also highlights six steps to be taken to address this global burden so that the eye care community can meet the United Nations (UN) General Assembly resolution on vision, which sets out to ensure full access to eye care services across all countries by 2030. One of these steps outlined in the report focuses on innovative research and development to design treatment options that are more effective, more efficient, and longer-lasting – linking nicely to my next 2022 highlight.

Treatment advancements pushing boundaries

Encouragingly, there have been some fabulous treatment advancements for retinal diseases in the last 12 months, especially in terms of extending treatment intervals.

My hope is that in 2023 these treatment options will start to benefit people living with retinal diseases, providing them with more personalised treatment approaches and reducing the number of clinic visits needed to manage their condition. This in turn will free up ophthalmologists’ time, enabling them to treat more people.

Another innovation that I find particularly exciting is our growing ability to target new biological pathways in retinal conditions. At Roche we are working hard to investigate treatments that target pathways like Angiopoietin 2 and Interleukin 6, as well as processes within the human immune system. All with the goal of creating more effective treatments to help more people retain their vision for longer.

Technological evolutions

Technological advances have transformed every industry – and the pharmaceutical industry is no exception. In ophthalmology, embracing technology has been key to the treatment advances outlined above, and will undoubtedly play an important role in future innovation.

One area where we are seeing real progress is in artificial intelligence (AI), which is now being used to assess hundreds of thousands of retinal images and diagnose diseases with incredible accuracy.?But use of AI isn’t just focused on diagnosis, it can also support ongoing monitoring and even wearable monitoring devices. These devices could mean real-time feedback on disease progression, allowing any changes in vision to be flagged and treatments to be adjusted accordingly. For those whose conditions are effectively managed and under control, this would mean they wouldn’t need to see their ophthalmologist for regular check-ups, freeing up even more of their time. Time which can be used instead to treat more people with retinal conditions.

What else does the future hold?

No one can predict what next year will bring, but there are a couple of things that I am particularly looking forward to.

The first is the Angiogenesis, Exudation, and Degeneration 2023 conference, taking place in February. It is always a key milestone in the year, and I’m looking forward to seeing the discussions from the ophthalmology community around new data, innovations and developments.

Secondly, I’m looking forward to seeing what additional advances can be made in retinal conditions beyond age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema. For example, there are still no approved treatments available for geographic atrophy. This is an area of considerable focus for Roche at the moment. While we may not see a breakthrough next year, we will continue to work hard to progress our pipeline molecules – in the hope of delivering innovative new solutions for people living with underserved retinal conditions.

Every innovation and step forward, no matter how small, is bringing us closer to the next exciting breakthrough, and a brighter future in eye care. If you’re interested in finding out more about what I think this could look like, please read my article about personalised healthcare in ophthalmology.