An inexpensive, long-approved HIV drug has been found to improve vision in patients with diabetic macular oedema (DMO) – a blinding complication of diabetes – more effectively and at much lower cost than many existing treatments.1
The initial clinical trial suggests the drug – lamivudine, which is taken orally – may offer patients an alternative to monthly anti-VEGF injections directly into their eyes.
It’s estimated that approximately one in 15 people with diabetes develop DMO,2 and there are around 1.3 million adults living with diabetes in Australia alone.3
Participants who received lamivudine showed significant vision improvements even before their first eye injections. Their ability to read letters on an eye chart improved by 9.8 letters (about two lines on the eye chart) at four weeks, while the participants receiving placebo saw their ability decrease by 1.8 letters. A month after the bevacizumab injections, the lamivudine recipients had improved by 16.9 letters (more than three lines on the eye chart), while the placebo group, receiving bevacizumab alone, had increased by only 5.3.4
“An oral drug that improves vision in [DMO] would be a game changer because it would be more convenient for patients than frequent, often monthly, injections into the eye,” said researcher Dr Jayakrishna Ambati, founding director of University of Virginia Health’s Centre for Advanced Vision Science. “The mechanism of action of lamivudine is also different from that of existing treatments, so we could also develop combination therapies.”
An oral drug that improves vision in [DMO] would be a game changer because it would be more convenient for patients than frequent, often monthly, injections into the eye
The study was published in Med.4
References
- University of Virginia, Drug improves sight for diabetic macular edema patients (media release, 27 May 2025) available at: newsroom.uvahealth.com/2025/05/27/drug-improves-sight-for-diabetic-macular-edema-patients/ [accessed June 2025].
- Tan GS, Cheung N, Simó R, Cheung GC, Wong TY. Diabetic macular oedema. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2017 Feb;5(2):143-155. doi: 10.1016/S2213-8587(16)30052-3.
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Diabetes: Australian facts. [webpage, last updated 12 Dec 2024] available at: aihw.gov.au/reports/diabetes/diabetes/contents/summary [accessed June 2025].
- Pereira F, Magagnoli J, Ambati J, et al. Oral lamivudine in diabetic macular edema: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Med. 2025 May:100747. doi: 10.1016/j.medj.2025.100747. Epub ahead of print.
