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Editors Selection IGR 17-4

Medical Therapy: Tafluprost versus latanoprost

Comment by Shan Lin on:

25828 A phase II study on the duration and stability of the intraocular pressure-lowering effect and tolerability of tafluprost compared with latanoprost, Traverso CE; Ropo A; Papadia M et al., Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 2010; 26: 97-104

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Traverso et al. (898) compared the safety and efficacy of a new prostaglandin, tafluprost, to that of latanoprost amongst 36 patients with ocular hypertension and open-angle glaucoma. It was conducted in a prospective, double-blind fashion, and the primary endpoints were intraocular pressure (IOP) lowering at day 42 and 43 after instituting therapy. Tafluprost was found to have similar efficacy in lowering IOP and a similar adverse event profile as latanoprost. However there were three cases of severe ocular side effects which were all in the tafluprost group (one with pruritus and two with photophobia). In terms of responder rates to pre-specified IOP reductions (≥15%, ≥20%, ≥25%, and ≥30%), tafluprost had greater proportions of eyes which achieved these targets, although these were not significant. Day 42 and 43 included the 24 and 48 hour time points after the last dose in the study. The IOP efficacy at those time points was statistically similar for the two medications. These findings are consistent with other studies evaluating tafluprost and its safety/efficacy profile compared to latanoprost.

Some of the limitations of the study include a relatively small number of patients and short follow-up of 43 days. Strong points of this study include the double-masked, randomized design and the IOP measurement up to 48 hours after the last dose of medication.

Additional safe and effective medications are always welcome, even though tafluprost does not introduce a new class of medications for glaucoma. It is a FP agonist with potent binding to the FP receptor. This compound represents an additional alternative in the prostaglandin agonist group that is as effective and appears to have similar conjunctival hyperemia rates as latanoprost. Also it is available in approved countries as a preservative-free formulation.

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