Let’s catch you up on the approval of Rhopressa at the end of 2017.
What is Rhopressa?
A once daily eye drop to lower IOP for patients with open angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.
How does it work?
Rock Inhibitors increase outflow through the trabecular meshwork by inhibiting Rho Kinase (ROCK). Rhopressa is also presumed to work via two other mechanisms:
— It reduces fluid production in the eye by inhibiting the norepinephrine transporter (NET Inhibitor).
— It lowers episcleral venous pressure.
What are the side effects?
The biggest one was conjunctival hyperemia reported in 53% of patients. Others were corneal verticillata (aka vortex keratopathy), instillation site pain, and conjunctival hemorrhage.
Tell me about the clinical trials.
There were three trials (1, 2, 3) with over 1800 participants. The studies compared Rhopressa to Timolol. All the studies showed up to 5 mmHg reductions in IOP with Rhopressa.
When can I prescribe it?
Likely by the second quarter of 2018 but you’ll start seeing reps for this soon.
(full prescribing info here)
