Diabetic retinopathy is the most common diabetic eye disease. It affects people diagnosed with diabetes mellitus and is a leading cause of blindness in working age adults. The term “diabetic retinopathy” refers to a variety of eye disorders characterised by changes in the eye’s innermost lining of light-sensitive cells, known as the retina, which can occur in people diagnosed with diabetes.

DME is the major cause of vision loss in people with diabetic retinopathy.

Approximately 6.8% of diabetes patients have DME.¹

An estimated 21 million people around the globe have DME.¹

This number will only continue to grow as the number of people with type 2 diabetes is rapidly increasing in every country.²

As incidences of diabetes and diabetic retinopathy escalate, Alimera Sciences is committed to research and development to meet the increasing need for reliable, effective treatments for ocular complications associated with diabetic retinopathy.



_{¹ Yau JW, Rogers SL, et al; Meta-Analysis for Eye Disease (META-EYE) Study Group. Diabetes Care. 2012; 35: 556-564
² International Diabetes Federation Website. http://www.idf.org/diabetesatlas/5e/the-global-burden.}

DME occurs when blood vessels in the retina of patients with diabetes begin to leak into the macula, the part of the eye responsible for detailed central vision. These leaks cause the macula to thicken and swell, progressively distorting acute vision. Ultimately, the swelling may not lead to blindness, but the effect can cause a severe loss in central vision.

Treatment

Laser

For a long time, the standard of care for the treatment of DME was laser photocoagulation because there were few other options. This is a retinal procedure in which a laser is used to cauterise leaky blood vessels or to apply a pattern of burns to reduce edema. However, it can have undesirable side effects, including partial loss of peripheral and night vision.

New therapies have recently been approved and are now being widely used by retinal specialists:

Corticosteroid injections and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agents

Both of which offer improvements in vision but require multiple injections to maintain a therapeutic effect. In an effort to provide a sustained therapeutic effect to maintain vision improvement in DME, Alimera Sciences has developed a long-acting corticosteroid microimplant.

_{¹ Yau JW, Rogers SL, et al; Meta-Analysis for Eye Disease (META-EYE) Study Group. Diabetes Care. 2012; 35: 556-564
² International Diabetes Federation Website. http://www.idf.org/diabetesatlas/5e/the-global-burden.}