Recent developments for the treatment of glaucoma

Abstract

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness globally, with over 75.0 million people anticipated to be affected in 2020 with that number growing to over 110 million in 2040. The prevalence of glaucoma coupled with the unfortunate reality that the disease still progresses in 30–80% of patients prescribed the standard of care has led to continued interest in glaucoma drug discovery. This chapter reviews advances in glaucoma therapies over the last 5 years. The focus is on: (1) advancements in drug delivery that offer the potential for enhancing the efficacy of current treatments; (2) new and emerging therapies for primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) in both the clinical and pre-clinical stages (the review of emerging glaucoma therapies highlighted in this chapter is limited to those for which in vivo efficacy data were published); and (3) progress toward treating the underlying optic neuropathy, which defines glaucoma.