{
  "abstract": "Background: No prospective randomised head-to-head trial has compared faricimab 6 mg with aflibercept 8 mg for diabetic macular oedema (DMO). Their pivotal programmes used materially different dosing architectures, precluding interpretation of observed interval distributions as drug properties.\n\nMethods: We separated an anchored Bayesian aggregate-data comparison of year-1 and year-2 best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and retinal-thickness differences from an individual-level, discrete-time burden microsimulation. The latter applied identical three-dose loading and Q4W–Q16W rules, conditional on transported durability evidence. Protocol standardisation applied only to burden; dosing history did not generate efficacy. Inputs represented mixed pivotal-trial populations. Structural, prior, composite leave-out, qualification and calibration analyses were performed.\n\nResults: The estimated BCVA difference between treatments was small and compatible with no treatment difference: faricimab minus aflibercept 8 mg was +1.22 letters at year 1 (95% uncertainty interval [UI], −0.48 to +2.86) and +0.41 at year 2 (−1.43 to +2.27). Retinal-thickness-reduction differences were +21.93 μm at year 1 (+1.70 to +42.52; P[Δ > 0] = 98.3%) and +20.53 μm at year 2 (−1.08 to +42.24); the year-2 interval included zero, and estimates varied across structures. Under the common simulated treat-and-extend regimen, aflibercept 8 mg was projected to require fewer injections than faricimab (7.29 vs. 8.01 by week 52 and 10.93 vs. 12.60 by week 104). A greater proportion of simulated eyes receiving aflibercept 8 mg than faricimab reached 16-week dosing intervals (80.2% vs. 50.9% at week 52 and 77.7% vs. 60.4% at week 104). Aflibercept 8 mg showed a lower estimated injection burden, although the adjusted range included no difference between treatments.\n\nConclusion: The estimated BCVA differences were small and compatible with no treatment difference. Faricimab showed greater anatomical improvement at year 1, while the year-2 estimate included no difference. Aflibercept 8 mg showed a lower simulated injection burden, although the adjusted range included no difference. Neither treatment demonstrated clinical superiority.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Ophthalmology, AHEPA University Hospital, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki",
    "Division of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 1,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Georgios D. Panos"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/20ksm68asztex.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fphar.2026.1938908",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13710820",
  "id": "20ksm68asztex",
  "issns": [
    "1663-9812"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2026.1938908/full",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Original Research"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2731|Retinal Diseases and Treatments"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7202270454",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2026.1938908/pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13710820",
  "pmid": "42947959",
  "published": "2026-10-13",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/20ksm68asztex.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:06Z",
      "native_id": "10.3389/fphar.2026.1938908",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2026.1938908/full"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T00:20:34Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42947959",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42947959"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:21:42Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13710820",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2026.1938908"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "issn:1663-9812",
      "subfield": "pharmacology-toxicology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Faricimab 6 mg versus aflibercept 8 mg in diabetic macular oedema: an in silico study of anchored efficacy and common-protocol treatment burden",
  "title_text": "Faricimab 6 mg versus aflibercept 8 mg in diabetic macular oedema: an in silico study of anchored efficacy and common-protocol treatment burden",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-31T12:21:42Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/20ksm68asztex",
  "venue": "Frontiers in Pharmacology",
  "versions": []
}