Verana Health Collaborates on Two Abstracts Presented at the American Glaucoma Society Annual Meeting

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Verana Health

Verana Health worked in collaboration with Bausch & Lomb and Sight Sciences on two separate abstracts presented at the American Glaucoma Society (AGS) Annual Meeting (March 2-5, 2023) in Austin, Texas. The abstracts demonstrated use cases for applying de-identified, curated real-world data to answer research questions about patients with glaucoma from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (Academy) IRIS® Registry (Intelligent Research in Sight). The IRIS Registry is one of the largest specialty society clinical data registries in all of medicine and the first comprehensive eye disease clinical registry in the U.S.

“These two studies underscore the value of curated quality, real-world data to inform medical research for key clinical outcomes, such as IOP,” said Sujay Jadhav, CEO of Verana Health. “The IRIS Registry provides longitudinal data and real-world evidence that will inform drug development for effective therapeutics to help patients with this treatable disease.”

Timing of Intraocular Pressure Measurements

The first abstract, a collaboration between Bausch & Lomb and Verana Health, was titled: “Timing of Intraocular Pressure Measurements for Patients with Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma and/or Ocular Hypertension Treated with Prostaglandin Analogs: An Academy IRIS® Registry Analysis.” Robert Chang, M.D., associate professor of ophthalmology at Stanford Health Care and a consultant to Verana Health, delivered the virtual ePoster presentation. 

Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and ocular hypertension (OHT) can cause optic nerve damage and visual field loss. Intraocular pressure (IOP) is the only known, modifiable risk factor that can reduce the likelihood of disease progression. Topical prostaglandin analogues (PGAs) are typically recommended as a first-line therapy. 

The purpose of this study was to assess the time interval between PGA initiation or switch and a subsequent IOP measurement. Clinical data (including IOP measurements) from the IRIS Registry was linked to a medication claims dataset to determine real-world timing between PGA initiation or switch and subsequent IOP measurement. 

Results of the study show that patients initiating a PGA for the first time were shown to have an IOP reading sooner and closer to eight-week guidelines than patients switching PGAs. This suggests that physicians may not see the urgency in rapid follow-up for patients switching treatment within the same medication class.

Glaucoma Medication Use after MIGS

The second abstract, a collaboration between Sight Sciences and Verana Health, was titled: “Glaucoma Medication Use in Patients with a Moderate Glaucoma Severity After Receiving Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery: An Academy IRIS® Registry Analysis.” This virtual ePoster was presented by Louis Cantor, M.D., professor emeritus at the Indiana University School of Medicine and chair of the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute.

Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS) has been shown to benefit patients with glaucoma. The IRIS Registry provides an opportunity to evaluate post-surgical real-world clinical outcomes in patients who have undergone MIGS. The study is a retrospective analysis of patients with moderate glaucoma using de-identified IRIS Registry data linked to a medication claims data set to measure the change in medication use at one year in patients with moderate glaucoma severity who underwent MIGS combined with cataract surgery.  

Researchers concluded that patients with a moderate glaucoma severity undergoing combined cataract and MIGS, or cataract surgery only, may require fewer medications following their procedures, with the greatest reductions in medication seen in patients using OMNI and Hydrus.

“These two studies underscore the value of curated quality, real-world data to inform medical research for key clinical outcomes, such as IOP,” said Sujay Jadhav, CEO of Verana Health. “The IRIS Registry provides longitudinal data and real-world evidence that will inform drug development for effective therapeutics to help patients with this treatable disease.”

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