Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42363252›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of retina and vitreous2026

Intravitreal aflibercept 8 mg in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration from China: 48-week results from the PULSAR trial.

Xiaodong Sun, Hong Dai, Youxin Chen, Xufang Sun, Liming Tao, Jun Xiao, Mei Han, Mingwei Zhao, Li Wang, Andrea Schulze and 7 more

Registry-linked trialAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of retina and vitreous, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04423718 (Randomized, Double-Masked, Active-Controlled, Phase 3 Study of the Efficacy and Safety of High Dose Aflibercept in Patients With Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration), which is not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04423718 phase3completednot on this map

Randomized, Double-Masked, Active-Controlled, Phase 3 Study of the Efficacy and Safety of High Dose Aflibercept in Patients With Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration

TypeinterventionalSponsorBayerRan2020 to 2024Enrolled1,011ConditionsNeovascular Age-Related Macular DegenerationArmsAflibercept High Dose VEGF Trap-Eye (BAY86-5321), Aflibercept VEGF Trap-Eye (Eylea, BAY86-5321)
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors.

Xiaodong SunShanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. xdsun@sjtu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5015-0945
Hong DaiBeijing Hospital, Beijing, China.
Youxin ChenPeking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China.
Xufang SunTongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Liming TaoThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Anhui, China.
Jun XiaoThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
Mei HanTianjin Eye Hospital, Tianjin, China.
Mingwei ZhaoPeking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China.
Li WangBayer Healthcare Company Limited, Beijing, China.
Andrea SchulzeBayer AG, Berlin, Germany.
Ursula Maria Schmidt-OttBayer AG, Berlin, Germany.
Min ZhaoBayer Healthcare Company Limited, Beijing, China.
Xin ZhangBayer Consumer Care AG, Basel, Switzerland.
Zhaohong WangBayer Healthcare Company Limited, Beijing, China.
Sergio LealBayer Consumer Care AG, Basel, Switzerland.
Wenbin WeiBeijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
PULSAR investigators

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPULSAR (NCT04423718) was a global, phase 3, randomized, double-masked, non-inferiority study of adults with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Patients were randomized 1:1:1 to receive aflibercept 8 mg every 12 (8q12), or 16 weeks (8q16), or aflibercept 2 mg every 8 weeks (2q8), following 3 initial monthly doses. This subgroup analysis investigated the efficacy and safety of aflibercept 8 mg vs. aflibercept 2 mg in patients from China with nAMD from the PULSAR trial.

methodsThis exploratory analysis evaluated the change from baseline in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central retinal thickness (CRT), durability, and safety outcomes through week 48 in patients from China. All results were descriptive in nature.

resultsLeast squares (LS) mean (95% confidence interval [CI]) change from baseline in BCVA at week 48 was + 13.2 (+9.0, +17.4), +9.7 (+5.8, +13.7), and + 10.0 (+6.9, +13.1) letters for patients from China in the 8q12 (n = 31), 8q16 (n = 31), and 2q8 (n = 39) groups, respectively. LS mean (95% CI) change from baseline in CRT (µm) at week 48 was -167 (-183, -151), -166 (-195, -137), and -180 (-195, -165) for patients in the 8q12, 8q16, and 2q8 groups, respectively. Randomized dosing intervals were maintained by 88.5% and 73.1% of patients in the 8q12 and 8q16 groups, respectively. The incidence of ocular treatment-emergent adverse events was similar across treatment groups.

conclusionsIn patients with nAMD from China, aflibercept 8 mg administered over extended dosing intervals demonstrated efficacy and a safety profile consistent with that observed with aflibercept 2 mg, in line with the overall PULSAR cohort.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, TRN NCT04423718. Registration date 8 June 2020.

Indexed as

AfliberceptAnti-VEGF agentNeovascular age-related macular degenerationVascular endothelial growth factor

Identifiers

PMID42363252
PMCPMC13563726

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.