Regeneron reported a year-end total revenue of $4.1 billion for 2015 compared with $2.8 billion in 2014, according to a company press release. The 46% increase was partially attributed to an increase in the company’s net profit from commercialization of Eylea (aflibercept, Regeneron) outside of the United States.
(MedPage Today) — Federal courts have been too kind to off-label marketing, says Caroline Poplin, MD, JD
Faced with declining reimbursements, administrative burdens and legal concerns, some ophthalmologists have chosen to opt out of Medicare and private insurance and only accept private pay. Others receive reimbursement for basic procedures and charge pat…
Brock Magruder underwent a LASIK monovision procedure in just his nondominant eye at age 50.I have found with many latent hyperopic presbyopes that they will benefit even more with a small correction in the distance eye as well; however, Brock is waiti…
Collagen fibers in the human body are normally bonded together and stabilized by covalent cross-links. The tensile strength of mature collagen fibers is largely due to intermolecular covalent cross-links. Collagen cross-linking was described by Theo Seiler et al as a means to strengthen a weak and ectatic cornea. This works by utilizing ultraviolet A at a wavelength of 370 nm in the presence of the photosensitizer riboflavin to create an increased number of covalent bonds among corneal stromal collagen fibers.Riboflavin is a photosensitizer and causes damage at a lower UVA irradiance level of 0.36 mW/cm2. The creation of oxygen free radicals leads to induction of collagen cross-links, which in turn leads to more compact interlamellar connections. Riboflavin also has an additional protective role by increasing the absorption coefficient, thereby decreasing final irradiance at the endothelial level down to 0.18 mW/cm2. However, 400 µm of riboflavin-saturated stroma above the endothelium is considered safe to avoid adverse effects. In patients with corneas thinner than this, conventional cross-linking cannot be performed. For patients with corneal stromal thickness between 350 µm to 400 µm after epithelial removal, we have performed a new technique called contact lens-assisted cross-linking (CACXL). This was described by Soosan Jacob.
MIAMI — The frequency of risk alleles predisposing to neovascularization in age-related macular degeneration also predicts neovascularization in pachychoroid disease, according to a study presented here. “The risk alleles investigated seem predisposed to the neovascularization, not necessarily just in AMD, but perhaps in other diseases such as pachychoroid,” K. Bailey Freund, MD, said at Angiogenesis, Exudation, and Degeneration 2016.