Pharmacist Support Is Key to Retinal Therapy Success | Asembia 2025

Advances in retinal disease treatment have brought significant promise, particularly for conditions like age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Recently introduced therapies such as high-dose aflibercept and faricimab have extended dosing intervals up to 12 and 16 weeks, reducing the burden of frequent injections.

Casey Koch, PharmD, MBA, BCACP, clinical pharmacy coordinator at SelectHealth, said that future innovations may target multiple pathways simultaneously using bi- or tri-specific antibodies, as well as gene therapy. These medications could potentially offer patients longer-lasting benefits.

One of the biggest challenges patients face is the frequency and cost of treatment. As many of these therapies are administered under the medical benefit category, patients often deal with high out-of-pocket costs. Pharmacists can play a key role in supporting patients through copay or foundation assistance programs and by discussing lower-cost alternatives or emerging biosimilars.

Drug Topics® sat down with Koch at Asembia’s AXS25 Summit, held April 27 to May 1 in Las Vegas, Nevada, to discuss treatments on the horizon for the treatment of diabetic macular edema, how pharmacists can reduce patient burden for patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration, and what role pharmacists can play to improve rates of treatment adherence.

“When you're talking to patients, you want to assess whether or not they're able to get in to see their appointments,” Koch said. “Oftentimes, patients have trouble getting to their appointments. It's a spot where pharmacists can get involved. I think a big counseling point is, initially, with these medications, you may not see a big change to your vision within the first bit of time. We know with a lot of medications that when patients don't actually feel anything, they may give up. That's a spot where you want to counsel with patients that long term, the drugs are extremely effective.”

Read More of Our Coverage: Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit

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