Stanford's Quan Dong Nguyen, MD, Speaks on the SAKURA Trials

The SAKURA study, which stands for “Sirolimus study assessing doublemasked uveitis treatment,” is a major undertaking exploring a potentially major new drug for the treatment of noninfectious uveitis, sirolimus. According to one of the researchers, Quan Dong Nguyen, MD, of the Byers Eye Institute at Stanford University, it is the largest ever uveitis study of its type.

So far the findings have been positive, and intravitreal sirolimus shows promise. At ARVO 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland, Nguyen spoke with MD Magazine about the drug, the trials, and other novel therapies for noninfectious uveitis.

“Recognizing that vitreous haze is not the only parameter…we also looked at other parameters, such as visual acuity, retinal thickness, uveitic macular edema, as well as cell counts and intraocular pressure. Thusfar, everything seemed to be favorable and show a consistent benefit to risk ratio,” Nguyen said of SAKURA’s findings. The drug is currently under FDA review.