Rhopressa is the commercial name of netarsudil ophthalmic solution. This drug is a 0.02% formulation, and is one of the newest drugs for glaucoma. At the time of writing this blog, it is not available in India.
It belongs to the family of Rho kinase inhibitors. This is a new class of glaucoma medications that increase outflow from the conventional (trabecular) pathway in the eye, thus decreasing the eye pressure.
INDICATIONS
The treatment of high eye pressure is the primary indication. For now, Rhopressa has USFDA approval for use in people with open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension.
DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION
It is used once a day, at bedtime. Like all eye drops, the prescribed dosage is one drop in each eye.
Rhopressa can be used in conjunction with other drugs. Make sure you wait for at least ten minutes before using the second eye drop.
ADVERSE REACTIONS
The most common adverse reaction or side effect that has been observed with Rhopressa is redness of eyes. Almost half of the patients (53%) using rhopressa notice red eyes. However, only about six percent of patients actually found it bothered them enough to discontinue treatment.
About 20% patients report other side effects. These include small whitish deposits on the cornea, and mild pain on instilling the eye drop. One in ten patients also complain of blurred vision, increased watering and redness of the eyelids.
Remember, all of these side effects are innocuous and disappear on discontinuing the medication. Also, you must inform your doctor immediately, if you notice any reactions.
What it means for glaucoma treatment
- There is one more drug available for eye pressure control. Surgery may, therefore, be avoided in some patients. Especially for those patients, who are already using all the available eye drops, this may be a boon.
- Netarsudil is also available in a combination with Latanoprost. Rocklatan, which is a fixed dose combination, has just been approved by the USFDA for use in glaucoma.
- As of now, it is not available in India. One months supply of the drug costs around 30,000 INR.
- Redness is the main side effect, and one of the most important reasons for discontinuing the drug.
- You can learn more about the drug here: https://rhopressa.com/common-questions/ and here https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30653957
