Latest exciting news about Valeda treatment for Age Related Macular Degeneration!

Latest exciting news about Valeda treatment for Age Related Macular Degeneration!

Lumithera’s Valeda(PBM)  the world’s first approved treatment for dry Age related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is used throughout Europe and to date more than 16,000 patients have now been treated worldwide with no reported adverse effects.

Excitingly, LumiThera is now about to conduct a large-scale "registry" trial looking at around 1000 real World patients that have been treated in Europe over the past three or so years. The FDA in the US are also in discussions with LumiThera and have now agreed the process of "fast-tracking " the approval process - however , this still takes time as the Valeda device is a "novel" treatment i.e. is not based on an already approved pharmaceutical. 

Three treatment centres in the UK  took part in the Lightsite II trials under the auspices of Professor Ben Burton, who was elected president of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists in May 2023. The interest in the treatment has since increased with more private providers including the eminent Prof. Burton now offering the treatment. The uptake in the UK is though still relatively slow compared to Europe because of the complexity of getting a "treatment code" from the NHS that would make it funded by both the NHS and the insurance sector. The treatment is only available in the UK privately.

We have been performing this treatment here at Elizabeth Evans Opticians with cautious success since June 2021. We are seeing significant improvement in visual function in the clients we are treating and a slowing down of progression of the disease that mirrors or even exceeds the published results from the clinical trials. This is remarkable as we have been treating "real world" patients some of whom would have been considered too advanced to be included in the clinical trials. Like all disease however, the earlier the intervention the better the results, presumably as the retina being treated is more healthy and hence better able to respond to treatment.  

LumiThera recommend a treatment every four/six months in order to maximise / optimise its effectiveness in slowing down this devastating condition. This recommendation is based upon the recently published LightSite III trials carried out in the U.S. and optimum results are obtained by having three treatment cycles in a year - see the  links below with the latest published results.

PRESS RELEASE

Lumithera Update

RESEARCH RESULTS

Valeda treatment could slow progression in intermediate AMD

RESEARCH STUDY SHOWS POSITIVE RESULTS