Intravitreal faricimab in patients with nAMD: French data from the Fight Retinal Blindness! Registry.

PURPOSE: To assess real-world outcomes of intravitreal faricimab in French patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) previously treated with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors using data from the Fight Retinal Blindness! (FRB!) Registry.

METHODS

Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected FRB! Registry data (November 2023-March 2026) on eyes switched to faricimab from other VEGF inhibitors.

PRIMARY ENDPOINT: change in injection interval at 12 months. Secondary endpoints: macular neovascularization (MNV) inactivation, visual acuity (VA), injections, switch-off, safety. Mixed-effects models assessed baseline predictors of interval change and loading-dose effect on MNV inactivation.

RESULTS

We included 222 eyes (169 patients; mean [SD] age 81.4 [7.8] years; VA 64.6 [19.3] letters; interval 5.9 [3.5] weeks; 26.2 prior injections); 143 (64.4%) were 12-month completers. Mean interval increased from 6.0 to 8.4 weeks (p < 0.001), with a greater gain in inactive (Δ +4.0 weeks) than active eyes (Δ +1.7 weeks; p = 0.033). VA remained stable (Δ -0.8 letters; p = 0.28). Inactive MNV rose from 36% to 60% (p < 0.001); 50% of active eyes achieved inactivation. After adjustment, MNV activity at switch was the only predictor of interval reduction (vs. inactive: SRFl only, β = -2.8 weeks, p = 0.015; IRF/haemorrhage, β = -2.4 weeks, p = 0.020). A loading dose was not associated with interval extension (p = 0.59) or MNV inactivation (p = 0.50). Intraocular inflammation occurred in 5 eyes (2.3%).

CONCLUSION

Macular neovascularization (MNV) inactivation and modest interval extension were observed in active eyes; inactive eyes showed a larger interval extension. Loading dose was not associated with better outcomes in this observational cohort. Safety was acceptable.