Real-world evidence in the use of Bevacizumab in age-related macular degeneration (ArMD): a scoping review

Purpose: Pharmacological treatments for age-related macular degeneration (ArMD) include anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapies. Bevacizumab is used off-label, as it has no indication for ArMD. This study aims to identify and describe literature on real-world evidence of bevacizumab (originator or biosimilars) use in ArMD.

Methods: A scoping review was conducted in Medline, CINAHL and Embase databases. Studies published in English after September 2017, conducted in USA, including adults (≥ 18 years old) with ArMD who received treatment with bevacizumab for ArMD were included. The review was further limited to peer-reviewed observational studies that quantitatively analyze either clinical or patient-reported outcomes among patients treated with bevacizumab for ArMD.

Results: The search strategy retrieved 543 studies. After title and abstract screening, a total of 142 studies were selected for full-text review leading to a total of 12 studies qualifying for data charting. All were retrospective studies. Five (41.6%) of the studies had less than 500 eyes included in the analysis, and the rest had over a thousand eyes. All except one study reported clinical outcomes (visual acuity was the main outcome in 8 (66.6%) studies). There were 3 (25%) studies reporting adverse events of bevacizumab intravitreal injections. None of the studies specified using biosimilars for bevacizumab and none mentioned patient-reported outcomes.

Conclusion: The lack of studies aiming to study the patient-reported outcomes as well as the use of biosimilars of bevacizumab in ArMD makes this field a potential for future research. The different exposures and times to follow-up make it difficult to compare results among the selected studies.