At the end of March, JAMA Ophthalmology’s publication of first results from the NIH-sponsored, 328-patient trial with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s VEGF inhibitor, Eylea (aflibercept), in non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy bolstered investor hopes for wider use. But competitors loom for the compound, first approved in November 2011 for wet age-related macular degeneration.