Vabysmo Eye Treatments May Cause Blindness, Study Warns

The side effects of repeated Vabysmo eye injections may cause severe enough inflammation to result in blindness, a new case study warns.

According to findings published in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology on January 23, researchers from the University of Nebraska Medical Center found that inflammation and vision loss in some Vabysmo patients may be due to an immune response.

Vabysmo is a prescription medication given to patients via injection directly into the eye. It is used to treat neovascular age-related macular degeneration, a condition where abnormal blood vessels grow underneath the retina and can lead to significant vision loss, and diabetic macular edema, a complication of diabetes that damages the blood vessels in the eye.

The medication is made using immunoglobulin G monoclonal antibodies. These antibodies are used in research and are a component of the body’s immune response system. They are used to treat many different diseases, according to the researchers.

Previous clinical trials have shown Vabysmo to be safe and help treat neovascular age-related macular degeneration and macular edema with few side effects. However, new research disputes those results.

In the new study, a research team conducted a series of case studies on three older patients treated from October 2023 to August 2024 at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The three patients were undergoing treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration or diabetes macular edema, and had all developed eye inflammation after being treated with Vabysmo injections.

According to the case study, the Vabysmo injections were paused, and the patients were treated with steroids. Once the inflammation subsided, doctors resumed the Vabysmo injections.

As a result, all three patients developed occlusive retinal vasculitis, a condition that blocks blood flow to the retina and causes vision problems, ultimately leading to complete vision loss, according to the findings.

Researchers suggest that the injections may trigger an overactive immune response, with inflammation subsiding when treatment is paused. However, repeated treatments appear to provoke a severe immune reaction, potentially resulting in vasculitis and vision loss.

However, they also indicated the reaction is not likely limited to Vabysmo. The research team warned this could be a reaction to any eye injections that use antibodies in patients with susceptible immune systems, and advised caution when using the same biologic as an eye injection after even a mild inflammatory response.

“Given these observations with repeated challenge, caution is advisable when using the same biologic after the development of even mild IOI with prior injection. It appears an immunological memory response is elicited with these repeated exposures, resulting in the development of ORV”, the researchers concluded.