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Dexycu (EyePoint Pharmaceuticals)
As noted, patients can be
overwhelmed by the regi-
mens they're instructed to
follow after cataract and
other eye surgeries. And
among the various types of
drops patients are told to
administer, steroids tend to
be the most challenging, because they're
administered more often and for longer periods than
antibiotics and NSAIDs. Plus, they need to be tapered over time.
Recently FDA-approved, and commercially available for the first
time this spring, Dexycu (dexamethasone intraocular suspension) 9%
is another type of implant that eliminates the need for steroid drops.
After all, the list of things that can go wrong with drops is daunting,
says Cynthia Matossian, MD, FASC, of Matossian Eye Associates in
Pennsylvania and New Jersey: "Patients get confused about how
many to put in. They may have a hard time squeezing the bottle,
because they have arthritis in their hands. They may have tremors
from Parkinson's. They may have arthritis that makes it difficult to
bend their necks back."
And if they miss, and the drops end up on their cheeks or foreheads,
they may run out before they complete the recommended course.
"Which means they'll call us for a refill," says Dr. Matossian, "which
adds to our phone calls, and adds to the patient's cost, which of
course upsets them. All of that is eliminated by putting the product
into the eye [during surgery]."
The steroid medication — a liquid that when injected immediately
forms a tiny spherule — is put in place via a cannula under the iris at
