Positive topline data from Phase 3 study for thyroid eye disease treatment

Viridian announced positive topline data from its Phase 3 study investigating elegrobart as a subcutaneous treatment for thyroid eye disease. In the study, two dose regimens (once every 4 weeks and once every 8 weeks) of the half-life-extended monoclonal antibody that targets the insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor were delivered to participants, according to the company’s press release. At 24 weeks, the study showed high statistical significance in meeting its primary endpoint, which was proptosis responder rate in the 4-week dosing group compared to placebo. The 4-week arm achieved a 54% proptosis responder rate, the 8-week arm 63%, and placebo 18%. Its key secondary endpoint of proptosis mean change from baseline in the 4-week dosing group compared to placebo was also met. There was complete resolution of diplopia in 51% of patients in the 4-week dosing group, compared to 16% in the placebo group at week 24. Additional, clinically relevant endpoints were met for both the 4-week and 8-week groups, compared to placebo, according to the company. The treatment was considered well tolerated with “low rates of hearing impairment,” according to the company. The company plans for a complete topline readout within the second quarter of 2026 and a BLA submission in the first quarter of 2027.

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Controlled U.S. release of outflow restoration platform for glaucoma

Iantrek introduced the controlled release of its AlloSpan Canal into the U.S. market. According to the company’s press release, the AlloSpan Canal is a “a novel bio-reinforced canal restoration platform” that is designed to help restore natural outflow in patients with glaucoma. The platform combines “nitinol-guided canaloplasty with durable biological reinforcement,” to “restore and maintain Schlemm’s canal without leaving synthetic hardware in the eye.” This technology will be unveiled further and discussed in the 2026 Charles D. Kelman, MD, Innovator’s Lecture at the ASCRS Annual Meeting, to be delivered by Sean Ianchulev, MD. Read the preview about his lecture.

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New platform established to help bring supportive evidence to interventional glaucoma

Amaros announced the launch of the Interventional Glaucoma Network, which it described as “a clinician-led initiative designed to generate high-quality clinical and real-world evidence to support advances in interventional glaucoma care.” The network, which is powered by the company’s AI AmarosEngine platform, is intended to help “enable rigorous study design, faster patient identification and enrollment, and more consistent collection of outcomes data across procedures and treatments” by integrating data from EHRs, practice management systems, images, and claims.

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Head-to-head Phase 1b study supports investigational anti-VEGF

Ollin Biosciences announced the final 20-week data from its randomized, head-to-head Phase 1b study of OLN324, which it described as a “higher-potency, smaller-format, higher-molar dose VEGF/Ang2 bispecific antibody.” OLN324 was compared to faricimab in the study of 164 patients with diabetic macular edema or wet AMD. The company reported that all patients received 3 monthly doses of either OLN324 or faricimab and were followed for 12 weeks off treatment, with retreatment possible during that timeframe based on prespecified criteria for each condition. At the 20-week visit, the investigators reported that DME patients who received OLN324 “continued to demonstrate greater retinal drying compared to those treated with faricimab, measured as mean change in central subfield thickness on optical coherence tomography (OCT), along with sustained vision gains that were numerically greater for OLN324 4 mg.” Most DME patients who received OLN324 4 mg did not need retreatment (93%), compared to 89% of patients in the faricimab group. Wet AMD patients treated with OLN324 showed “numerically greater vision gains than patients treated with faricimab; the best-corrected visual activity (BCVA) improvements continued to separate between groups from Weeks 12 to 20, with a mean +2.2 letter advantage observed over faricimab for OLN324 4 mg at Week 20.” Among wet AMD patients who received the investigational therapy, 82% did not need retreatment, compared to 81% who received faricimab. The company reports that it and Innovent Biologics will be advancing OLN324 into Phase 3 studies for DME and wet AMD later this year.

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Complimentary access to video journal

The latest issue of the Video Journal of Cataract, Refractive, & Glaucoma Surgery, founded and edited by Robert Osher, MD, is online now.

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ASCRS news and events

• 2026 ASCRS Annual Meeting: This is the final week to register for the 2026 ASCRS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., April 10–13. View the Real-Time Program for the most up-to-date program information.
• SightLine at ASCRS: Connect, collaborate, and confront the challenges shaping the commercial landscape of ophthalmology at this meeting taking place Thursday, April 9 ahead of the ASCRS Annual Meeting. This meeting is for all commercial stakeholders in ophthalmology to learn about care delivery ideas that will forge a more sustainable financial future. Learn more.
• Business of Interventional Glaucoma: Surgeons and practice administrators alike are invited to the ASOA ASCRS Business of Interventional Glaucoma program, taking place Thursday, April 9 ahead of the ASCRS Annual Meeting and ASOA Annual Meeting. Learn more.
• EyeWorld Onsite for ASCRS 2026: Preview Annual Meeting lectures, read leadership interviews, and review key events with articles posted to EyeWorld Onsite. On April 9–13, keep up with timely and expanded live coverage from in and around ASCRS 2026 with EyeWorld Onsite, the official ASCRS news source for the Annual Meeting.

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Research highlights

• With some clinical studies finding 0.05% atropine effective for myopia control in pediatric patients, investigators have noted that “discontinuation management remains unclear.” As such, some investigators looked at data from the Low-Concentration Atropine for Myopia Progression (LAMP) study, a randomized clinical trial of patients 4–12 years old followed for 8 years, which had patients randomized to either taper or completely stop atropine treatment. A recent study in JAMA Ophthalmology reported the results of the taper vs. stop discontinuation routines, asking if either approach resulted in less progression over 3 years. Ultimately, the authors found that those in the taper group had less progression over 3 years than those in the stop group, especially for patients at a younger age and those with more myopia. The authors acknowledged that there was a 0.25 D difference between the treatment groups, the clinical relevance of which, they wrote, is “not well understood in the current medical literature.”
• The risk factors for reverse pupillary block after IOL fixation surgery were evaluated in a retrospective observation study published in the Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery. The study included 60 eyes that had scleral-sutured or intrascleral IOL fixation at a single institution from 2019–2023. Among these, six eyes developed reverse pupillary block. AS-OCT was used to measure iris length, IOL-iris distance, anterior chamber depth (ACA), anterior chamber width, angle-to-angle distance, steep and flat meridian keratometry, and central corneal thickness in both groups (the eyes that developed reverse pupillary block and those that didn’t). The eyes that did develop reverse pupillary block, according to the investigators, “showed significantly better postoperative logMAR corrected distance visual acuity” compared to eyes that didn’t. There were no significant differences between the two groups in IOP, axial length, or ocular or systemic history. AS-OCT found iris length to be significantly greater in eyes that experienced reverse pupillary block, while there were no statistically significant differences in the other parameters. The authors concluded with multivariate nominal logistic regression analysis that longer iris lengths may be associated with increased risk of reverse pupillary block in IOL fixation surgeries.

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Product news

• YUVEZZI (carbachol and brimonidine tartrate ophthalmic solution, 2.75%/0.1%, Tenpoint Therapeutics) is now commercially available in the U.S. for treatment of presbyopia.

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