Reframe Daily: New heart-safety results for tirzepatide—plus fewer shots for eye disease (12–16 weeks)

Reframe Daily—curated by Christin Chong (neuroscience PhD, Buddhist chaplain, healthtech strategy consultant)—delivers optimistic and credible health research updates you won’t find in most popular news outlets, from sources scientists and healthcare providers read and trust.

Today in one sentence: A major heart-outcomes trial showed tirzepatide was not worse than dulaglutide for heart death/heart attack/stroke in high-risk type 2 diabetes, two studies found anti-VEGF shots for wet-eye disease can sometimes be spaced out to 12–16 weeks with similar vision gains, a small phase 2 trial tested focused radiation plus immunotherapy/anti-VEGF for liver cancer after PD-1 didn’t work, a real-world dog trial found a therapeutic Chagas vaccine lowered parasites and helped prevent heart changes.

Good news: A big study found tirzepatide was not worse than dulaglutide for heart-related death, heart attack, or stroke in people with type 2 diabetes and heart disease. That means people may have another strong diabetes medicine option without extra heart risk.

Cardiovascular Outcomes with Tirzepatide versus Dulaglutide in Type 2 Diabetes

Market readiness: 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂 (Both medicines are already used in the US; this study supports real-world prescribing for people with high heart risk.)

Good news: People with PCV (a wet-AMD-like eye disease) got similar vision gains with high-dose aflibercept 8 mg while many could stay on 12+ week dosing. That can mean fewer eye shots and fewer clinic visits for some patients.

Aflibercept 8 mg in Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy: Post Hoc Analysis of the PULSAR Randomized Clinical Trial

Market readiness: 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂 (Aflibercept is already an established eye injection; these data can inform near-term clinical use and dosing choices.)

Good news: In the TALON study, more people on brolucizumab reached the longest spacing (16 weeks) with no disease activity, while vision improvement was about the same as aflibercept. That could mean fewer injections for some people with wet AMD.

TALON phase IIIb study: 64 week results of brolucizumab versus aflibercept using treat-and-extend for neovascular age-related macular degeneration

Market readiness: 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂 (Both drugs are already in clinical use; the findings mainly guide how doctors choose and space treatments.)

Good news: For liver cancer that kept growing after PD-1 immunotherapy, adding targeted radiation (SBRT) plus PD-1/VEGF treatment led to tumor shrinkage in about 1 out of 3 patients (outside the radiated area) and disease control in about 2 out of 3 patients. That’s a hopeful sign for a tough-to-treat group.

Stereotactic body radiotherapy with sintilimab and bevacizumab biosimilar in anti-PD-1 refractory hepatocellular carcinoma: the ReUNION-1 phase 2 trial

Market readiness: 🙂🙂🙂 (Early human trial in 21 patients; needs larger phase 3 testing and US-specific approval pathways before routine US use.)

Good news: In a real-world randomized trial in client-owned dogs with natural Chagas infection, a therapeutic vaccine lowered parasite levels and helped prevent or stop heart changes on ECG, and it looked safe. This could protect pets and also help reduce a disease that can affect people.

Randomized field trial of a therapeutic vaccine against Trypanosoma cruzi natural infection in dogs and correlates for efficacy

Market readiness: 🙂🙂 (Tested in a field trial, but still investigational; would need larger studies and regulatory clearance before routine US veterinary/human use.)

Thank you for taking the time to take care of yourself and your loved ones.