Assessing intravitreal anti-VEGF drug safety using real-world data: methodological challenges in observational research

It is generally acknowledged that the ocular safety profile of intravitreal anti-VEGF drugs is acceptable, while the burden of systemic safety of these intravitreal agents is still being debated. The evaluation of the systemic safety of these drugs using real-world data (RWD), such as spontaneous reporting systems (SRS), electronic medical records (EMRs) and claims databases has several advantages, including the capture of outcomes among real-world populations over long observational periods. Nevertheless, there is a relatively small body of research exploring the post-marketing safety of these drugs.