A comparison of the safety and intraocular pressure lowering of bimatoprost/timolol fixed combination versus latanoprost/timolol fixed combination in patients with open-angle glaucoma

Purpose: To compare the efficacy and tolerability of a once daily evening dose of the latanoprost/ timolol fixed combination (LTFC) with that of a once-daily evening dose of the bimatoprost/timolol fixed combination (BTFC) in patients with open-angle glaucoma with elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) insufficiently responsive to monotherapy with prostaglandin analogues/prostamides. Design: Prospective, randomized, evaluator masked, single-center study. Participants: 36 patients with a diagnosis of open-angle glaucoma, with or without pseudoexfoliation, and inadequate control of IOP, insufficiently responsive to monotherapy with prostaglandin analogues/prostamides. Main outcome measure: The primary end-points were the change in IOP at 9:00am from baseline to week 4, and the difference between treatment groups in the mean diurnal IOP reduction from baseline to week 4. Results: BTFC provided significantly greater mean diurnal IOP reduction [mean (standard deviation)] 2.8 (0.9) mmHg, compared with LTFC 2.1 (0.6) mmHg, p = 0.0214. Both treatments significantly reduced the IOP from baseline at each IOP time-point measured, p < 0.0001, and for the mean diurnal IOP; p = 0.0049 for the LTFC, and p < 0.0001 for the BTFC. There were no significant differences in average hyperemia scores among groups, 1.25 (0.5) vs. 1.62 (0.69), p = 0.3835, for the LTFC and the BTFC, respectively. Conclusions: The results of this study showed a significantly higher IOP-lowering effect of a once-daily evening dose of the BTFC compared to that of a once-daily evening administration of the LTFC.